Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

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A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that identifies a resource and provides information for locating or accessing that resource.

A URL typically identifies the access mechanism through its URI scheme and provides the information required by that scheme to locate the resource.

Examples include URLs using schemes such as:

• https
• http
• ftp

A URL is therefore a URI, but not every URI is necessarily a URL.

The distinction is important because identification and location are separate concepts. A URI may provide a persistent identity for a concept or resource without specifying where that resource can be accessed.

a Uniform Resource Identifier that identifies a resource and provides a means for locating or accessing that resource

• RFC 3986, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax

URL is a subset of URI.

A URL generally describes a resource's primary access mechanism or network location. A URI used solely as a persistent name or conceptual identifier need not be a URL.

https://example.org/documents/report

The value identifies a resource and provides an https access mechanism through which the resource may be located.