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ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS - EXPLAINED

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT A & N ISLANDS

 INTRODUCTION
 GEOGRAPHY
 MAJOR ISLANDS IN A & N
 TEN DEGREE CHANNEL
 HISTORY
 ADMINISTRATION
 TRIBES IN THE ISLANDS
 TOURISM
 MAJOR TOURIST SPOTS
 ROSS & SMITH ISLANDS
 2004 TSUNAMI

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ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

 Andaman and Nicobar Islands, union territory, India, consisting of two groups
of islands at the southeastern edge of the Bay of Bengal.
 The peaks of a submerged mountain range, the Andaman Islands and their
neighbours to the south, the Nicobar Islands, form an arc stretching
southward for some 620 miles (1,000 km) between Myanmar (Burma) and
the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
 The arc constitutes the boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and
the Andaman Sea to the east. Port Blair (on South Andaman Island) is the
territorial capital.
 The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west
 The territory is divided into three districts: the Nicobar District with Car
Nicobar as its capital, the South Andaman district with Port Blair as its
capital and the North and Middle Andaman district with Mayabunder as its
capital.

GEOGRAPHY
 There are 572 islands in the territory having an area of 8,249 sq km.. Of these
38 are permanently inhabited.
 The Andamans are separated from the Nicobar group by a channel (the Ten
Degree Channel) some 150 km wide. The highest point is located in North
Andaman Island (Saddle Peak at 732 m (2,402 ft)).
 The Andaman group has 325 islands which cover an area of 6,170 sq kmwhile
the Nicobar group has only 247 islands with an area of 1,765 sq km.
 The capital of the union territory, Port Blair, is located 1,255 km (780 mi)
from Kolkata, 1,200 km (750 mi) from Visakhapatnam and 1,190 km (740 mi)
from Chennai.
 Indira Point at the southern tip of the southernmost island, Great Nicobar, is
the southernmost point of India and lies only 200 km from Sumatra island in
Indonesia.

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BARREN ISLAND

GEOGRAPHY
 The only volcano in India, Barren Island, is located in Andaman and Nicobar. It
is an active volcano and had last erupted in 2017. It also has a mud volcano
situated in Baratang Island. These mud volcanoes have erupted sporadically,
with recent eruptions in 2005 believed to have been associated with the 2004
Indian Ocean earthquake.
 The previous major eruption recorded was on 18 February 2003. The locals
call this mud volcano Jalki. There are other volcanoes in the area. This island's
beaches, mangrove creeks, limestone caves, and mud volcanoes are some of
the physical features.
 In December 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day
visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, renamed three of the islands as a
tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose.
 Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island; Neil Island
as Shaheed Island; and Havelock Island as Swaraj Island.

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MUD VOLCANO

MAJOR ISLANDS IN A & N

 The main islands under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
group are:

 North Andaman
 Middle Andaman
 South Andaman
 Little Andaman
 Car Nicobar
 Little Nicobar
 Great Nicobar

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TEN DEGREE CHANNEL

 The TEN DEGREE CHANNEL is a channel that separates the
Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands from each other in
the Bay of Bengal.
 The two sets of islands together form the Indian Union
Territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
 This channel is 150 kilometres (93 mi) wide from north to
south, and approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long from
east to west.
 It has minimum depth of 7.3m and lies from east to west
on the 10-degree line of latitude north of the equator,
hence the name.

HISTORY
 The history of Andaman is still a mystery to many. No one actually knows
when and how the first inhabitants came to the island. The earliest
archeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years.
 However, genetic and cultural studies suggest that the indigenous Andaman
people may have been isolated from other populations since the middle
Paleolithic (old stone age).
 In that time, the Andamanese may have diversified into distinct linguistic,
cultural and territorial groups, now known as tribes.
 The fist empire to list the islands under its territory was the Maratha Empire.
Rajendra Chola one of the Chola dynasty kings, conquered the islands to use
it as its strategical navy base against the Sriwijaya empire (located in
Indonesia).
 They called the islands Tinmaittivu or the impure islands.

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HISTORY
 A major chunk of the known history, however, dates back to the post-colonial
period.
 The history of organized European colonization began when the Danish
settlers of the Danish east India company arrived at the Nicobar islands on 12
December 1755.
 On 1 January 1756, the Nicobar Islands were made a Danish colony, first
named New Denmark. But this colony did not last very long as most of the
empire was wiped out because of the outbreaks of Malaria by 1848. It was
only the British who can then be called the true colonizers of the island.
 In 1789, the British established their colony in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
But, the island was abandoned the British in 1796; yet, the British resumed
control over the island in the 19th century.

HISTORY
 During the 19th century as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands history
maintains, the British used Andaman and Nicobar as a penal colony, which
was named ‘‘ or the Cellular Jail.
 The history of Andaman and Nicobar Islands proves that criminals convicted
of crime against the East India Company was sent to Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, with a life sentence: the convicts were forced to live in exile in the
Kalapani.
 But, with the end of the British rule, i. e. after the Indian Independence, the
‘Kalapani’ gave way to a conglomeration of beautiful islands.
 It was in 1947 that Andaman and Nicobar Islands formed a part of the India
Union. Today, is among the seven union territories of India.

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CELLULLAR JAIL

ADMINISTRATION
 In 1874, the British had placed the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in one
administrative territory headed by a Chief Commissioner as its judicial
administrator.
 On 1 August 1974, the Nicobar islands were hived off into another revenue
district with district headquarters at Car Nicobar under a Deputy
Commissioner.
 In 1982, the post of Lieutenant Governor was created who replaced the Chief
Commissioner as the head of administration.
 The current Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar islands is
Admiral D K Joshi (Retd).
 Subsequently, a "Pradesh council" with Councillors as representatives of the
people was constituted to advise the Lieutenant Governor. The Islands sends
one representative to Lok Sabha from its Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Lok
Sabha constituency).

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ADMINISTRATION
Administrative divisions
 The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is divided into three districts:

 North and Middle Andaman (Capital: Mayabunder)

 South Andaman (Capital: Port Blair)

 Nicobar (Capital: Car Nicobar)

 Each district is further divided into sub-divisions and taluks:

TRIBES IN THE ISLANDS

 There are 6 aboriginal tribes in Andaman & Nicobar islands. On the basis of features, they can
be divided into Negrito and Mongoloid.
 Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese are negrito while Nicobarese and Shompen
are mongoloid. Shompens and Nicobarese seem to be descendents of primitive Malayans.
These tribes still keep a separate entity and don;t cover their bodies.
 The tribal groups in the two respective regions have very little in common in the ethnic,
linguistic or cultural sense. Their life styles are also very different.

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TOURISM
 Tourism to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is increasing due to the
popularity of beaches and adventure sports like snorkelling and sea-walking.
 Plans to develop various islands under NITI (National Institute of
Transforming India) Aayog is also in progress. Luxury resorts with
participation from the Government are set up to plan in Avis Island, Smith
Island and Long Island.
 A statue of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at Cellular Jail.
 Indian tourists do not require a permit to visit the Andaman Islands, but if
they wish to visit any tribal areas they need a special permit from the Deputy
Commissioner in Port Blair. Permits are required for foreign nationals. For
foreign nationals arriving by air, these are granted upon arrival at Port Blair.
 According to official estimates, the flow of tourists tripled to nearly 430,000
recently from 130,000 in 2008–09. The Radha Nagar beach was chosen as
Asia's best beach in 2004.

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MAJOR TOURIST SPOTS

 In Port Blair, the main places to visit are the Cellular Jail, Mahatma Gandhi Marine National
Park, Andaman Water sports complex, Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Corbyn's cove, Chidiya
Tapu, Wandoor Beach, Forest Museum, Anthropological Museum, Fisheries Museum, Naval
Museum (Samudrika), Ross Island and North Bay Island.
 Viper Island which was earlier visited is now kept closed by the administration. Other places
include Havelock island famous for Radhanagar Beach, Neil Island for Scuba
diving/snorkeling/sea walking, Cinque Island, Saddle peak, Mt Harriet, and Mud Volcano.
 Diglipur, located at North Andaman is also natures’s wonder and many tourists have started
visiting North Andaman as well.
 Northern part of Port Blair upto North Andaman is connected via Bus service through ferry
service between islands. But the southern group (Nicobar islands) is mostly inaccessible to
tourists.

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ROSS & SMITH ISLANDS

 Ross & Smith islands are actually two islands – Ross & Smith joined together
by a sand bar to make a single group of islands.
 What makes these islands truly beautiful and sets them apart from the rest of
the islands is that these two islands are joined by a natural, sand bar.
 Water is crystal clear and gem green in color. Sun bathing in Ross & Smith
Islands is a wonderful experience.
 During high tide, the sand bar disappears leaving a trail of water between the
two islands and during low tide the sand bar appears again making the islands
look majestic!
 There is a Marine Sanctuary on the island which makes it an ideal place for
spotting beautiful coral reefs and colorful species from the underwater
 Ross & Smith islands are home to the Olive Ridley turtles which means, being
the right place at the right time, one can even witness the turtle nesting!

ROSS & SMITH ISLANDS, DIGLIPUR

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2004 TSUNAMI
 On 26 December 2004, the coasts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were devastated by a 10
m (33 ft) high tsunami following an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
 More than 2,000 people lost their lives, 4,000 children were orphaned or suffered the loss of
one parent, and at least 40,000 people were rendered homeless.
 More than 46,000 people were injured. The worst affected Nicobar islands were Katchal and
Indira Point; the latter subsided 4.25 metres (13.9 feet) and was partially submerged in the
ocean.
 The lighthouse at Indira Point was damaged but has been repaired since. A significant portion of
the union territory was submerged and subsequently lost to sea. The territory which measured
8,073 sq km before the tsunami now stands at 7,950 sq km .
 While the locals and tourists on the islands suffered the greatest casualties from the tsunami,
most of the aboriginal people survived on account of oral traditions passed down over
generations that warned them to evacuate from the large waves that follow earthquakes.

LIGHTHOUSE AT INDIRA POINT

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ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT A & N ISLANDS

 South Andaman and Little Andaman are separated by Duncan Passage. The Grand Channel is
between the Great Nicobar islands and the Sumatra islands of Indonesia.
 The Coco Strait is between the North Andaman islands and the Coco Islands of Myanmar. The
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are part of the submarine tertiary fold mountains which are
protruding out of the sea. These mountains form a link with Arakan Yoma and Sumatra.
 The Andaman and Nicobar Island has a tropical marine climate influenced by the seasonal flow
of monsoon winds. The region is under dense tropical rain forests. The coastal regions have
mangrove forests.
 Coconut fruit is the staple food of the people. Fisheries, piggery is also followed. The Islands are
also famous for the largest and rarest species of crab, the Giant Robber Crab. It can climb the
coconut trees and break the hard shell of the fruit.
 The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also known as the Emerald Islands. The Narcondam
Island, located in the north-east of North Andaman is also a volcanic island.
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