A&N
Islands Tours & Travels
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General Information about the Andaman & Nicobar Islands
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Location
Located in the Bay of
Bengal, this group of 572 islands lies 193 km away from Cape Negrais
in Myanmar, 1255 km from Calcutta, and 1190 km from Chennai. The two
important groups of islets are Ritchie's Archipelago and Labyrinth
Islands. The Nicobar Islands are located to the south of the Andamans,
121 km from the Little Andaman Island. Of the total 572 islands, only 36
islands are inhabited. The Islands are located between the latitudes 6°
to 14° North and longitudes 92° to 94° East. Physical
Features The Andaman and Nicobar
Islands comprise around 572 islands formed by a submarine mountain range,
which separates the Bay of Bengal from the Andaman Sea. The islands attain
maximum altitude at Saddle Peak (730 m), formed mainly of
limestone, sandstone, and clay. Climate
The islands have a
tropical climate. There is medium to heavy rain during the monsoon, in the
months from May to mid September and November to mid December. There is no
extreme climate except rains and tropical storms in late summer often
cause heavy damage. Flora
and Fauna The canopied rain forests
of the islands harbor 3,000 species of plants including mangroves,
epiphytes (130 ferns, 100 orchids), palms, woody climbers, timbers (teak,
mahogany, Andaman paduk) and a wide variety of tropical fruits. Marine
fauna is diverse including a wide variety of tropical fish and coral.
Considering the diversity and uniqueness of fauna and flora and the
fragile nature of the eco-system here, 96 sanctuaries spread over 466.218
sq km and nine National Parks spread over 1153.938 sq km have been
notified on these islands.
Little is known
historically about Andaman and Nicobar, a cluster of around 572 islands
of which less than 50 are populated, stretching from the southern tip of
Burma all the way down south till Sumatra in Indonesia. It is believed
that Marco Polo was among the first from the West to set foot on
one of the islands. Kanhoji Angre, a Maratha admiral had his base
on the island in the early 18th century. From there, he attacked passing
Portuguese, Dutch and English merchant vessels on their way to or from
their various Asian colonies. In 1713, his navy even succeeded in
capturing the yacht of the British Governor of Bombay. Despite many
efforts by the British and later a joint military force of British and
Portuguese naval forces, Kanhoji Angre was never defeated. He died in
1729. The British established
their first colony in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1789, which was
abandoned in 1796. The British finally annexed the islands in the
19th century adding them to their empire. They turned it into a penal
colony for Indian freedom fighters. The construction of the infamous Cellular
Jail was completed in 1908. Hundreds of anti-British Indians were tortured
to death or simply executed here. With the Second World War, Japanese
troops occupied the islands and the local tribes initiated guerrilla
activities to drive them out. When India achieved independence in 1947,
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were incorporated into the Indian Union.
Due to consistent
emphasis of the government on progress and its encouragement to the
mainlanders to settle there has resulted in the local tribes becoming a
minority group in their own land. The indigenous tribes are
distinguished in two groups: the Onge, Sentinelese, Jarawa and
Andamanese of Negroid descent living on the Andaman Islands and the Shompen
and Nicobarese of Mongoloid descent living in the Nicobar Islands.
Most of the tribes are on the verge of extinction. This sad destiny will
most likely hit the Andamanese tribe first since their number is as low as
thirty. The Sentinelese is the least studied tribe still living in
isolation on the North Sentinel Island. Their number is estimated
at 250. Outsiders attempting to make contact with them are driven away
with bows and arrows. They continue to maintain a unique lifestyle living
in harmony with nature just as they have done for thousands of years. Arts
and Crafts The main crafts of the
Andaman & Nicobar Islands include shell and exotic woods crafted for
the tourists, palm mats, and beautiful natural shells. Due to the fear of
over exploitation of the Islands' natural resources, trade of some
products is now banned. Attire
Being far removed from
the present civilization, the aboriginal people did not wear any clothes
till recently. The Sentinelese do not wear anything even now while the
Jarawas use only adornments of bark and shell, like necklaces, arm bands,
waist bands etc. The Shompens are semi nomadic and cover their body below
the waist only. The people of Car Nicobar Island have totally given up the
traditional dress of tassel or coconut leaf petticoat and now wear modern
clothes. The Onges survived without dress for centuries but have gradually
adapted to the dress code of the mainland. Use of traditional items of
adornment like necklaces made of shell, waistbands and headbands of bark
fiber are now restricted to ceremonial occasions.
The Union Territory of
Andaman and Nicobar Islands has a vast forest resource base with 7,171 sq
km of the total area of island covered by forests. A large variety of
timber is found in the Andaman group of islands. The Islands have reported
the occurrence of diatomaceous earth, gold, limestone, nickel, selenite
and sulphur. The Oil And Natural Gas Commission is continuing the
exploration for oil and gas there. The Union Territory has a
number of small scale, village and handicrafts units. The number of
export-oriented units is also increasing in the agro-processing sectors.
The Andaman and Nicobar Integrated Development Corporation has made its
presence felt in civil supplies, tourism, fisheries, industries, and
industrial financing activities. Agriculture
Around 50,000 hectares of
land is under cultivation here. Paddy is the main food crop and is mostly
cultivated in the Andaman group of islands, whereas coconut and areca nut
are the main cash crops of the Nicobar group of islands. Different kinds
of fruits such as mango, sapota, orange, banana, papaya, pineapple and
some root crops are also grown on the islands. |
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