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Area : 8,249 sq km
Population : 356,152
Capital : Port
Blair
Principal Languages : Hindi, Nicobarese,
Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union
Territory, are situated between 6°
and 14° North Latitude and 92°
and 94° East Longitude. The
group of 572 islands/ Islets lies in the Bay of
Bengal, 193 km from Cape Negaris in Burma
(Myanmar), 1,255 km from Kolkata and 1,190 km
from Chennai. Two principal groups of islets are
Ritchie's Archipelago and Labyrinth Islands. The
Nicobar Islands are situated to the south of
Andamans, 121 km from Little Andaman Island.
There are 38 inhabited islands, including 25 in
the Andaman district and 13 in the Nicobar
district.
The original inhabitants of the islands lived in
the forests on hunting and fishing. There are
four Negrito tribes, viz., the Great
Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinalese in the
Andaman group of islands, and two Mongoloid
tribes, viz., Nicobarese and Shompens
in the Nicobar group of islands. Sentinalese are
still hostile, keeping a separate entity, and
have not yet learnt the concept of covering
their bodies.
The modern history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
begins with the establishment of a settlement by
East India Company in 1789. However, in 1796
this settlement was abandoned. Following the
first war of Indian Independence in 1857, the
British India Government founded the penal
settlement in these islands in 1858, primarily
known as Kalapani, for the deportation
of freedom fighters from the mainland India,
which continued till the second World War during
the Second World War, the Japanese forces
occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in
1942. Further, following the surrender of the
Japanese forces in the Second World War, the
British India Government reoccupied these
islands in 1945 and continued their
administration till the Independence of the
country in 1947.
A total of 51,694.35 hect. of area 8068.71 hect.
under agriculture and plantation in the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands was damaged by Tsunami /
Earthquake. Out of that paddy and other field
crops in 2177.70 hect. and 5891.01 hect. under
plantation crops. Area under permanent
submergence is 4206.64 hect. with paddy and
other field crops.
Paddy the main food crop, is mostly cultivated
in Andaman group of Islands, whereas Coconut and
Areca nut are the cash crops of Nicobar group of
Islands. Field crops, namely, pulses, oilseeds
and vegetable grown followed by paddy during
Rabi season. Different kinds of fruits such as
mango, sapota, orange, banana, papaya, pineapple
and root crops are grown on hilly land owned by
the farmers. Spices, viz. pepper, clove, nutmeg
and cinnamon are grown under multitier cropping
system. Rubber, red oil, palm and cashew are
grown on a limited scale in these Islands.
The recorded forest area is 7,171 sq km of the
total geographical area of the islands. Many
types of forests are found in the islands, such
as tropical wet evergreen, tropical semi
evergreen, moist deciduous, littoral, mangrove
and swamp forests. A large variety of timbers
are found in the Andaman group of islands. The
most valuable timbers are padauk and gurjan.
These species are not found in Nicobar.
There are 96 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 9 National
Parks and 1 Biosphere Reserve in these Islands.
Mammals - Out of 55 terrestrial
and 7 Marine mammal species reported so far, 32
species are endemic. Birds - As
many as 246 species and sub species of birds are
reported to inhabit these Islands, and of these,
99 species and sub species are endemic.
Reptiles - There are 76
terrestrial reptiles of these 24 species are
endemic. Marine Life - Islands
harbour more than 1,200 species of fish, 350
species of echinoderms, 1,000 species of
molluscs and many more lower forms of life.
Among vertebrates dugongs, dolphins, whales,
salt water crocodiles, sea turtles, sea snakes,
etc., are common. Coral and Coral reefs
– So far, 179 species of corals
belonging to 61 genera have been reported. Reefs
are mostly fringing type on eastern coast and
barrier type on the western coast.
There are 1763 registered Small scale village
and Handicrafts Units as on 31 March 2006. Two
units are 100 per cent export oriented units in
the line of Fish/Prawn processing activity.
Apart from this, there are shells and wood based
handicraft units. SSI units are engaged in the
production of paints and varnishes, mini flour
mills, soft drinks and beverages, steel
furniture and fixtures, readymade garments,
steel gate grills and structures. Small-scale
handicraft units are also engaged in shell
crafts, bakery products, rice milling, furniture
making, etc. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Integrated Development Corporation in the Public
sector has spread its wings in the field of
Tourism, Fisheries, Industries and Industrial
financing and functions as authorized agents for
Alliance Air/Jet Airways/Air Deccan.
The Motor Transport Department of A & N
Administration has extended its service to 10
(ten) Islands besides Port Blair in this Union
Territory. The span of services extended from
Diglipur in the North to Campbell Bay in the
South. The State Transport Service is operating
around 143 Buses on 75 routes. The
Administration has given route permits to
private bus operators to ensure proper
connectivity of places. The Andaman Trunk Road
Services connects Port Blair with Rangat,
Mayabunder and Diglipur.
The massive earth quake followed by tsunami on
26 December 2004 completely destroyed the
infrastructure of the State Transport Service in
Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Katchal and
Campbell Bay. However the service was restored
within a period of two months in all the islands
and the public transport service is almost
normal in all the tsunami affected islands of
the Union Territory. To restore public transport
service in the southern group of islands
immediately after tsunami buses from Port Blair
were taken out of their existing routes and sent
to the southern group of islands where the
entire transport service was completely
dislocated.
The infrastructure at Hut Bay, Katchal and
Campbell Bay which suffered severe damages are
being rebuilt/repaired in order to facilitate
better transport service to the residents of the
Southern group of islands.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been recognised
as an eco-friendly tourist’s destination. As a
tourist paradise, these islands have something
very special to offer like Cellular Jail, Ross
Island and Havelock Island.
The Andaman tropical evergreen rain forests,
beautiful silver sandy beaches, serpentine
mangrove-lines creeks, marine life abounding
rare species of plants, animals, corals, etc.,
provide a memorable experience to the tourists.
There is tremendous scope for enjoying nature in
the beach resorts, water sports and adventure
water sports, adventure tourism like trekking,
Island camping, Nature trail, Scuba Diving, etc.
The Andaman tropical evergreen rain forests,
beautiful silver sandy beaches, serpentine
mangrove-lines creeks, marine life abounding
rare species of plants, animals, corals, etc.,
provide a memorable experience to the tourists.
There is tremendous scope for enjoying nature in
the beach resorts, water sports and adventure
water sports, adventure tourism like trekking,
Island camping, Nature trail, Scuba Diving, etc.
Tourism Department runs guest houses in
various parts of the Islands for comfortable
accommodation to tourists visiting these
Islands. The important places of tourist
interest are Anthropological Museum, Marine
Museum, Water Sports Complex, Gandhi Park, North
Bay, Viper Island, Ross Island, Chidiyatapu,
(Bird watching), Red Skin Island, Corbyn's cove
Beach, Islands like Neil Island, Havelock
Island, Cinque, Little Andaman, Diglipur (Ross
& Smith), etc. Tented accommodation is
available at Radha Nagar Beach from December to
May. The best season to visit these Islands is
from October to May.
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