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 This
string of 300 islands lies in the middle of the Bay of
Bengal. The islands are ethnically not a part of India
for until quite recently they were only inhabited by
indigenous people. These islands are often called the
"perfect tropical paradise".
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were constituted into a
Union Territory in November 1956. The Islands are
in two groups: the Andamans and the Nicobar, with a ten
degree channel separating the two. They stretch over
500 miles of water in the Bay of Bengal. Geographically,
they are situated between the 6th and 14th parallel of
north, latitude and between 92 degree and 94 degree of east
longitude.
Although the Andaman Islands, large and small, number about
239, the bulk consists of three closely
connected large islands., North, Middle and South Andamans
which with other two Islands, Baratang and
Rut-Land, almost form one landmass known as the Great
Andamans. In the Nicobars, there are 19 islands of
which 13 are inhabited by about 12,000 aboriginal tribesmen.
Most of them live on Car Nicobar, the northern
most of the archipelago. Half of the total area is covered
by the Great Nicobar which is almost uninhabited. Port
Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is
120 miles from Cape Negrais in Burma, 780 from
Calcutta and 749 from Madras.
The Islands possess a number of harbours, notably Port Blair
in the south, Elphinstone and Bonington in the
middle and Port Cornwallis in the north.
The Nicobar- Islands are situated to the South of the
Andamans. There is a fine landlocked harbour between
the Islands of Kamotra and Nancowry known as Nancowry
Harbour. Coconut is the main item trade and the
major item in their diet. And they have been cultivating
coconut for as long as any one can remember.
History
The existence
of these islands was first reported in the 9th century by
Arab merchants, who sailed past them, on their way to the
straits of Sumatra. The first Western visitor was Marco
Polo, who called it `the land of the head - hunters'. The
islands were annexed by the Marathas in the late 17th
century. In the early 18th century, the islands were the
base of Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre, whose navy frequently
captured British, Dutch and Portugese merchant ships. Angre
remained undefeated by the combined British / Portuguese
naval task force, right up to his death in 1729.
The Nicobar Islands were annexed by Britain in 1869 and were
joined with the Andaman Islands to form a single
administrative unit in 1872. Japanese forces occupied the
islands from 1942 until the end of World War in 1945, and
control of the territory was transferred to India when it
gained independence from Britain in 1947.
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