History and Geography

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.

AGRICULTURE

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.

FORESTS

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.

WILDLIFE

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.

INDUSTRY

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.

TRANSPORT

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.

TOURISM

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.