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Map of Nicobar Islands
Map of Nicobar Islands

The Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, and are part of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union territory of India. Informally the territory's name is often abbreviated to A & N Islands, or ANI India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country They are located southeast of the Indian subcontinent, separated by the Bay of Bengal by about 1,300 km. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. The Bay of Bengal is a bay that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean.

Contents

General description

The Nicobar islands are situated south of the neighboring Andaman Islands archipelago, and are located about 189 km northwest of the Indonesia island of Sumatra. The Andaman Islands are a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, and are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two Indira Point, the southernmost point of India, is located on these islands. Indira Point (formerly known as Pygmalion Point and for a brief period of time as India Point) is situated on the island of Great Nicobar in the Nicobar The Nicobars include 22 islands of various sizes, the largest being Great Nicobar. Great Nicobar (known to its indigenous inhabitants as Tokieong Long) is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. The total land area of the chain is 1841 km². The highest point on the Nicobars is Mount Thullier on Great Nicobar Island at 642 m. Mount Thullier is the highest point in the Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian Ocean and bordering on the Andaman Sea.

Population

The population of the islands was 42,026 in 2001. Roughly 65% of these are indigenous peoples (the Nicobarese and Shompen peoples, listed among the Scheduled Tribes of India), and 35% have ethnic origins from the Indian mainland and the island of Sri Lanka. The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical "Nicobarese" redirects here For the indigenous peoples see Nicobar Islands. The Shompen are the Indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar island part of the Indian Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar This is a full list of Scheduled Tribes in India, as recognised in India 's Constitution a total of 645 distict tribes Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island

Island distribution

The islands cluster into three groups. The northern group includes

The central group includes

The southern group includes

Administration

The Islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. Katchal is one of the Nicobar Islands, India. Its area is 174 Camorta is one of the Nicobar Islands, India Its area is 188 km² Nancowry refers both to a single island and to the group of adjoining islands that are a part of the Nicobar Islands chain located in the northeast Indian Ocean Trinket Island (29 km² is part of the Nicobar Islands chain located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea Great Nicobar (known to its indigenous inhabitants as Tokieong Long) is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. Little Nicobar is one of the Nicobar Islands, India Its area is 157 km² The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union territory of India. Informally the territory's name is often abbreviated to A & N Islands, or ANI A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory is Port Blair on South Andaman Island. Port Blair ( Hindi: पोर्ट ब्लेयर is the largest town and a Municipal council in Andaman district in the Andaman Islands South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands. The Union Territory is divided into two districts, Andaman district and Nicobar district (the latter encompassing all of the Nicobars). Andaman district is a district of India, one of two districts in the Indian Union Territory (UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian Union Territory (UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Government presently requires access to the Nicobars via a special permit and, in general, non-Indian citizens are forbidden from visiting the Nicobar Islands.

Nature

A Nicobar Pigeon, found only in the Nicobar Islands and parts of Indonesia
A Nicobar Pigeon, found only in the Nicobar Islands and parts of Indonesia

Geology

The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Eurasia. The Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, is a pigeon which is a resident breeding bird on small uninhabited islands in Indonesia and the Nicobar A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or Mountains formed by Plate tectonics as an oceanic Tectonic plate subducts under The Indo-Australian Plate is a major Tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding Ocean, and extends northwest to include the For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. 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. The Chin Hills are a range of hills in northwestern Myanmar that extend into India 's Manipur state Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two The Banyak Islands are a group of mostly uninhabited Islands located between Simeulue and Nias off the western coast of Sumatra in the Aceh The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.

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. Mangroves (generally are Trees and Shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the Tropics and Subtropics. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest Additionally, several islands contain extensive interior grasslands, though these are thought to result from human intervention. Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody

The Nicobar islands are recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, the Nicobar Islands rain forests, with many endemic species. An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or " Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere

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. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets 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.

See also:

History

The Nicobar islands are believed to have been inhabited for thousands of years. This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the World's various zoogeographic zones Six indigenous Nicobarese languages are spoken on the islands, which are part of the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family, which includes Mon, Khmer and Vietnamese languages of Southeast Asia, and the Munda languages of India. "Nicobarese" redirects here For the indigenous peoples see Nicobar Islands. The Mon-Khmer languages are the autochthonous Language family of Southeast Asia. The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large Language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) The Munda languages are a Language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar, called the Shompen, may be of Mesolithic Southeast Asian origin. The Shompen are the Indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar island part of the Indian Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age was a period in the development of human technology in between the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age and the Neolithic or New Stone Age [1]

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 Frederiksøerne from Tranquebar (in continental Danish India); missionaries from the Moravian Church Brethren's settlement in Tranquebar attempted a settlement on Nancowry and died in great numbers from disease; the islands were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria: 1784 - 1807/09, 1830 - 1834 and finally from 1848 gradually for good. Colonisation (also known as Colonization) occurs whenever any one or more species populates a new area The Danish East India Company (Dansk Østindisk Kompagni was a Danish Chartered company. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a Panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in Danish India is a term for the former colonies of Denmark in India. This page is about the Moravian Church globally For information about the church in a particular geographic area use the links at Organisation below WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a Panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in Nancowry refers both to a single island and to the group of adjoining islands that are a part of the Nicobar Islands chain located in the northeast Indian Ocean Between 1778 and 1783, Austria attempted to establish a colony on the islands on the mistaken assumption that Denmark had abandoned its claims to the islands. Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Year 1783 ( MDCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or

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 ([2]). The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

The islands were occupied by Japan between 1942 and 1945. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (8293 km² on 139 islands are a group of islands situated in the Bay of Bengal at about 780 miles from Kolkata, 740 miles from Together with the Andaman Islands, they became a union territory of India in 1950. A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India.

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. Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea Earthquake that occurred at 005853 UTC on December 26 2004 with an Epicentre off the west coast of At least 6000 people (possibly a conservative estimate) were believed to have been killed on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the disaster. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union territory of India. Informally the territory's name is often abbreviated to A & N Islands, or ANI 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. Indira Point (formerly known as Pygmalion Point and for a brief period of time as India Point) is situated on the island of Great Nicobar in the Nicobar 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 24th, 2005, a strong earthquake, measuring 7. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 2 on the Richter scale, struck the Nicobar Islands but there was no immediate report of death or destruction. TalkMoment magnitude scale#Real world examples please.--> The moment magnitude scale

See also

References

External links


The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve encompasses a large part (some 85% of the island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Great Nicobar (known to its indigenous inhabitants as Tokieong Long) is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra.
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