andaman and nicobar

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
Location of Andaman andNicobar Islands
Port Blair
Location of Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
Country India

District(s) 3
Established 1956-11-01
Capital Port Blair
Largest city Port Blair
Lt. Governor Lieutenant General Bhopinder Singh
Population
• Density 356,1521 (32)
• 43 /km2 (111 /sq mi)
Language(s) Nicobarese, Bengali, English, Hindi,Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area 8,250 km2 (3,185 sq mi)
ISO 3166-2 IN-AN
Footnotes[show]
Population data as per the Indian Census[1].
Website tourism.andaman.nic.in/

Coordinates: 11°41′N 92°46′E / 11.68°N 92.77°E / 11.68; 92.77

The territory is located in the Indian Ocean, and geographically is considered part of Southeast Asia. It comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 10° N parallel, with the Andamans to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west.

The territory's capital is the Andamanese town of Port Blair. The territory's population as per the most recent (2001) Census of India was 356,152. Added together, the total land area of the territory is approximately 6,496 km² or 2,508 sq mi.

* 1 History
o 1.1 First Inhabitants
o 1.2 Pre-colonial Era
o 1.3 British Colonial Period
o 1.4 Indian Control
o 1.5 Recent History
* 2 Geography
* 3 Demographics
* 4 Administrative Divisions
o 4.1 South Andaman district
o 4.2 Nicobar District
* 5 Flora
o 5.1 Timber
* 6 Economy
o 6.1 Agriculture
o 6.2 Industry
o 6.3 Macro-economic Trend
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 External links

History
First Inhabitants

The Andaman and Nicobar islands have been inhabited for several thousand years, at the very least. The earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years; however, the indications from genetic, cultural and linguistic isolation studies point to habitation going back 30,000 to 60,000 years, well into the Middle Paleolithic.

In the Andaman Islands, the various Andamanese peoples maintained their separated existence through the vast majority of this time, diversifying into distinct linguistic, cultural and territorial groups. By the 1850s when they first came into sustained contact by outside groups, the indigenous peoples of the Andamans were:

* the Great Andamanese, who collectively represented at least 10 distinct sub-groups and languages;
* the Jarawa;
* the Jangil (or Rutland Jarawa);
* the Onge; and
* the Sentinelese (most isolated of all the groups).

In total, these peoples numbered somewhere around 7,000 at the time of these first encounters. As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary indentured labourers, later purposely recruited farmers), these indigenous peoples lost territory and numbers in the face of punitive expeditions by British troops, land encroachment and the effects of various epidemic diseases. The Jangil and most of the Great Andamanese groups soon became extinct; presently there remain only approximately 400–450 indigenous Andamanese, the Jarawa and Sentinelese in particular maintaining a steadfast independence and refusing most attempts at contact.

The indigenous peoples of the Nicobars (unrelated to the Andamanese) have a similarly isolated and lengthy association with the islands. There are two main groups:

* the Nicobarese, or Nicobari, living throughout many of the islands; and
* the Shompen, restricted to the interior of Great Nicobar.

Pre-colonial Era

The islands provided a temporary maritime base for ships of the Marathas in the 17th century. The legendary admiral Kanhoji Angre harassed colonial shipping routes with a base in the islands.

British Colonial Period

After an initial attempt to set up a colony in the islands by the British was abandoned after only a few years (1789–1796), a second attempt from 1858 proved to be more permanent. The primary purpose was to set up a penal colony for dissenters and independence fighters from the Indian subcontinent.

The British used the islands as an isolated prison for members of the Indian independence movement. The mode of imprisonment was called Kala pani. The Cellular Jail in Port Blair was regarded as the "Siberia" of British India.

The islands were administered as a Chief Commissioner's Province.

The British continued their occupancy until the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II.
Indian Control

The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Netaji visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as "Shaheed" (Martyr) & "Swaraj" (Self-rule). General Loganathan, of the Indian National Army was made the Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On 22 February, 1944 he along with four INA officers-Major Mansoor Ali Alvi, Sub. Lt. Md. Iqbal, Lt. Suba Singh and stenographer Srinivasan arrived at Lambaline airport of Port Blair. On 21 March,1944 the Headquarters of the Civil Administration was established near the Gurudwara at Aberdeen Bazaar. On 2 October, 1944, Col. Loganathan handed over the charge to Maj. Alvi and left Port Blair, never to return. The islands were reoccupied by British and Indian troops of the 116 Indian Infantry Brigade on 7 October 1945, to whom the remaining Japanese garrison surrendered.

At the independence of both India (1947) and Burma (1948), the departing British announced their intention to resettle all Anglo-Indians and Anglo-Burmese on the islands to form their own nation, although this never materialized. It became an Indian union territory (UT) in 1950.
Recent History

On 26 December 2004 the coasts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were devastated by a 10 metre high tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. At least 5,930 people (possibly an accurate estimate) were believed to have been killed on the Nicobar and Andaman Islands during the disaster. One of the worst affected island was Katchal and Indira Point, the southernmost point of India, which got submerged under the ocean.

While newer settlers of the islands suffered the greatest casualties from the tsunami, most of the aboriginal people survived because oral traditions passed down from generations ago warned them to evacuate from large waves that follow large earthquakes.





Lakshadweep

Location of Lakshadweep
in Lakshadweep
Country India

District(s)
1
Established
1956-11-01

Largest city Andrott

Administrator J.K.Dadoo.IAS
Population
• Density
60,595
• 1,894 /km2 (4,905 /sq mi)
Language(s)
Malayalam, Mahl, Hindi

Time zone
IST (UTC+5:30)

Area
32 km2 (12 sq mi)

ISO 3166-2
IN-LD

Website lakshadweep.nic.in


Seal of Lakshadweep
Coordinates: 10°34′N 72°37′E / 10.57°N 72.62°E
Etymology
Lakshadweep, comes from Lakshadweepa, which literally means one hundred thousand (laksha) islands (dweepa) in Sanskrit.
Demographics
The people of all the northern islands speak a dialect of Malayalam. According to local folk beliefs, they descended from traders who were washed up on the islands during a particularly heavy storm. However, the people of Minicoy, the southernmost atoll, speak Mahl, a variant of Divehi, the language of the Maldives.
The islanders are ethnically similar to coastal Kerala's Malayali people, and were influenced by Arab traders. Inhabitants of Minicoy, the southernmost and largest island, closely resemble Maldivians. Most of the indigenous population is Muslim. The locals call themselves the Div-i or the Aminidivi ("from the mother island"). There is also a sizable Ahmadiyya Muslim Community there.
History
Little is known about the early history of the Lakshadweep islands. There are references to the control of the islands by the Cheras in the Sangam literature Pathitruppaththu. A Pallava inscription of 7th century CE refers to the islands as Dveepa Laksham and lists them as part of the Pallava domain. The oldest inhabited islands in the group are Amini, Andrott, Kavaratti and Agatti. It was earlier believed that the Lakshadweep islanders were originally Hindus who later converted to Islam in the 14th century. However, recent archaeological evidence has established that Buddhist settlements had existed in the islands as early as the 6th or 7th century. According to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep by the Arab saint Ubaidulla in 41 AH. His grave is located in the island of Agatti. Muslim grave stones dated to 139 AH have also been discovered here. During the 11th century, the islands came under the rule of the Medieval Cholas.
In the 17th century, the islands came under the rule of Ali Rajahs/Arakkal Bheevi of Kannur, who received them as a gift from the Kolathiris. The Portuguese took control to exploit coir production. The Portuguese invasion was a period of great brutality on the islands, and eventually the islanders expelled the Portuguese. The islands are also mentioned in great detail in the stories of the Arab traveller Ibn Batuta.
The Amindivi group of islands (Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat and Bitra) came under the rule of Tipu Sultan in 1787. They passed to British control after the Third Anglo-Mysore War and were attached to South Canara. The rest of the islands came under the suzerainty of the Arakkal family of Cannanore in return for a payment of annual tribute. After a while, the British took over the administration of those islands for non-payment of arrears. These islands were attached to the Malabar district of the Madras Presidency. In 1956, despite the fact