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Nicobar islands
*** Shopping-Tip: Nicobar islands
Image:Nicobar Islands.jpg thumb|200px|Map of Nicobar Islands
The '''Nicobar Islands''' are an island chain in the eastern
Indian Ocean, and are part of
India, located southeast of the
Indian subcontinent, separated by the
Bay of Bengal by about 1,300 km.
General description
The Nicobars are separated from the
Andaman Islands to the north by the 150 km wide
Ten Degree Channel and are 189 km from the
Indonesian island of
Sumatra to the southeast. The Andaman and Nicobar islands separate the
Bay of Bengal from the
Andaman Sea. Until the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake,
Indira Point, south of Great Nicobar, was the southernmost point in India.
The Nicobar islands include 22 islands of various sizes, the largest being
Great Nicobar. The total land area of the chain is 1841 km². The highest point on the '''Nicobars''' is
Mount Thullier at 642 m.
The population of the islands was 42,026 in 2001, roughly 65% of whom are
indigenous peoples (the
Nicobarese and
Shompen peoples, listed among the
List of Scheduled Tribes in India Scheduled Tribes of India), and 35% migrants from India and
Sri Lanka.
Island distribution
The islands cluster into three groups.
The northern group includes
*
Car Nicobar (127 km²)
* uninhabited
Batti Malv (2 km²).
The central group includes
*
Chowra (8 km²)
*
Teressa (101 km²)
*
Poahat (13.3 km²)
*
Katchal (174 km²)
*
Camorta (188 km²)
*
Nancowry (67 km²)
*
Trinket Island Trinket (86 km²)
* the
Isle of Man (Nicobar Islands) Isle of Man and
Tillangchong (17 km²) are uninhabited. Tillangchong is a wildlife sanctuary.
The southern group includes
*Great Nicobar (1045 km²)
*
Little Nicobar (157 km²)
*
Kondul (4 km²)
*
Pulomilo (1 km²)
* the islets of Meroe, Trak, Treis, Menchal, Cubra, Pigeon, and Megapod are uninhabited. Megapod is a wildlife sanctuary.
Administration
The Islands are part of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a
Union Territory of
India. The capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory is
Port Blair on South Andaman.
The Union Territory is divided into two districts,
Andaman district and
Nicobar district (the latter encompassing all of the Nicobars).
The Indian Government presently restricts access to the Nicobars by special permit, and in general non-Indian citizens are forbidden from visiting the Nicobar Islands.
Nature
Geology
The Nicobar Islands are part of a great
island arc created by the collision of the
Indo-Australian Plate with
Eurasia. The collision lifted the
Himalayas and most of the Indonesian islands, and created a long arc of highlands and islands, which includes the
Arakan Yoma range of
Myanmar, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and the islands off the west coast of
Sumatra, including the
Banyak Islands and
Mentawai Islands.
Ecology
The climate is warm and tropical, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 30° C. Rainfall is heavy due to annual monsoons and measures around 3000 to 3800 mm each year. The vegetation of the Nicobars is typically divided into the coastal
mangrove forests and the interior evergreen and deciduous
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Additionally, several islands contain extensive interior
grasslands, though these are thought to result from human intervention.
The Nicobar islands are recognized as a distinct
terrestrial ecoregion, the '''Nicobar Islands rain forests''', with many
endemic (ecology) endemic species.
As a result of lower sea levels during the
ice ages, the Andaman Islands were linked to the Southeast Asian mainland, but it is not believed that the Nicobar islands ever had a land bridge to the continent. Lower sea levels did link the islands to one another: Great Nicobar and Little Nicobar were linked to each other, and Nancowry, Chaura, Katchall, Trinka, Camorta, and the nearby smaller islands were linked to one another as well.
History
The Nicobar islands are believed to have been inhabited for thousands of years. Six indigenous
Nicobarese languages are spoken on the islands, which are part of the
Mon-Khmer languages Mon-Khmer branch of the
Austroasiatic languages Austroasiatic language family, which includes
Mon language Mon,
Khmer language Khmer and
Vietnamese language Vietnamese languages of
Southeast Asia, and the
Munda languages of India. An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar called the
Shompen may be of
East Asian origin.
The history of organized European
colonization on the islands began with the
Danish East India Company in 1754/56 when they were administrated under the name of '''Frederik Oerne Islands''' from
Tranquebar (in continental
Danish India); they were repeatedly abandoned: 1784 - 1807/09, 1830 - 1834 and finally from 1848 gradually for good. Austria had also made an attempt in the late 1700's to colonize the islands, but failed.
Denmark Danish involvement ended formally on 16 October 1868 when the Danish rights to the Nicobar Islands were sold to Britain, which
made them part of
British India by
1869 when the British took possession ([http://sherlock-holmes.org.uk/News/Articles/Frederick_C_Dobbs/Three_minute_problem.htm]).
On
26 December 2004 the coast of the Nicobar Islands was devastated by a 10-15 m high
tsunami following the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. At least 6000 people (possibly a conservative estimate) were believed to have been killed on the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the disaster. Reports put the death toll on Katchal Island alone at 4,600. Several islands were heavily damaged with initial reports of islands broken in two or three pieces and coral reefs moved above water. Teressa Island was said to have been split into two pieces and Trinkat Island into three pieces. Some estimates said that the islands were moved as much as 100 feet (30 m) by the earthquake.
Indira Point was reported beneath sea level and its lightstation and crew missing. Surveyors were dispatched as initial reports were considered unreliable.
More than two months after the disaster, no contact had been made with seven bands totalling about 150 of the 389 total Shompen.
On
July 25th,
2005, a
wikinews:Major earthquake jolts Bangladesh, centered in Nicobar Islands strong earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the
Moment magnitude scale Richter scale, struck the Nicobar Islands but there was no immediate report of death or destruction.
Sources and External links
-
WorldStatesmen- India
-
Post-tsunami satellite photos from India's National Remote Sensing Agency [http://vimaln.blogspot.com/2004/12/satellite-pictures-of-tsunami-2004.html (Alternate Link)]
Category: Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Category: Archipelagoes
Category: Ecoregions of India
Category: Former British colonies
Category: Former Danish colonies
Category: Regions of India
Category: Islands of India
Category: Indomalaya
Category: Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
da:Nicobarerne
de:Nikobaren
et:Nicobari saared
es:Islas Nicobar
eo:Nikobaroj
fr:ÃŽles Nicobar
id:Nicobar
nl:Nicobaren
no:Nikobarene
pl:Nikobary
pt:Ilhas Nicobar
ru:Ð?икобарÑ?кие оÑ?трова
simple:Nicobar Islands
fi:Nikobaarit
see
Nicobar Islands
*** Shopping-Tip: Nicobar islands
