What is an IP address?

Published on 15 October 2026 · Thibaut Tresse

Every device connected to the internet needs an address to receive what it asks for: a page, a video, a message. That is the IP address, for Internet Protocol. Your provider assigns it, and it is what Global IP Map shows at the top of the map.

IPv4 and IPv6

An IPv4 address is written as four numbers from 0 to 255, for example 203.0.113.7. There are a little over 4 billion of them, which has not been enough for a long time: the registries hardly hand out any more (RIPE NCC), and many mobile carriers share one IPv4 between several subscribers.

An IPv6 address is written in hexadecimal, eight groups separated by colons, for example 2001:db8::1 (runs of zeros are abbreviated). There are enough of them for every subscriber to get not one address but a whole block, at least a /64 (RFC 4291). Both versions coexist: a browser that has IPv6 prefers it (RFC 8305). Connected over IPv6, you see both of your addresses here, the IPv4 first because it is the one people look for most often.

Public or private

The address of your phone or computer on your home network, often 192.168.x.x, is private: reserved for local networks (RFC 1918), it cannot be reached from the internet. Your router translates between those private addresses and its public one, the only address websites see. The public address is the one shown here.

What it reveals

Address blocks are assigned to providers, which publicly declare what they hold. So for any address, we know which network carries it (its network number, the ASN) and in which country that network operates. Geolocation databases infer a region and a city from those declarations, cross-checked with measurements. The country is reliable, the region often is, the city sometimes: a mobile connection can be placed hundreds of kilometres from where you are. That is why this site rounds the position to about 50 km and only shows the region.

What it does not reveal

An IP address contains neither your name, nor your street address, nor your exact position. Only your provider knows which subscriber was using it at a given time, and it only discloses that on a court's request. It remains personal data under European law (CJEU, Breyer ruling): that is why Global IP Map does not keep it and shows it to you alone.

Changing your address

With most providers, the address changes by itself from time to time, or when the router restarts. A VPN replaces it with the address of its own server: websites then see the VPN, not you. Here, a connection coming out of a VPN or a hosting provider is flagged "VPN" and scores no point, so that the country ranking stays that of real visitors.