The .io domain isn't going anywhere in the next few yearswww.theregister.comUK-Mauritius handshake holds but Chagos Islands shift could eventually phase out the ccTLD

The British Indian Ocean Territory, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, has the .io domain.

However, now that the British Indian Ocean Territory, the official name for the Chagos Archipelago, is set to vanish from the map, the owners of the more than 1.6 million .io websites await word on the fate of the territory's domain.

Last week, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius announced a treaty to transfer the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius. The change in administration raises questions about the future of the .io territorial identifier.

The British Indian Ocean Territory was delegated the .io domain in 1997, and assuming the UK-Mauritius treaty is signed and ratified next year as planned, that territorial code may be affected.

In theory, the change of sovereignty should lead to the retirement of the .io domain. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) says as much on its website.