(2001 est. pop. 356,000). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a territory of the Indian Union, form a narrow chain running mostly north-south and stretching over 1,000 kilometers. The Andaman Islands (6475 square kilometers) to the north have four main and 200 small, mostly uninhabited islands. Divided by the Ten Degree Channel, the Nicobar Islands (1852 square kilometers) consist of three groups of nineteen islands. Part of a submarine Tertiary-period-fold mountain, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are generally hilly, with Saddle Peak (738 meters above sea level) and Mount Thullier (614 meters) the two highest peaks on North Andaman and Great Nicobar, respectively. Because monsoons bring ample rainfall and temperatures are high, lush tropical forests with great biodiversity (including 242 bird and 78 reptile species) cover around 90 percent of the land. Such forests, partly still virgin, have great commercial value and represent the main source of income. Agriculture is only sparsely developed, with cultivation of rice, coconuts, and fruit trees. Foreigners are banned from the Nicobar Islands, but tourists are welcomed at the capital of Port Blair on Andaman and from there can visit other islands via day cruises.
Four different groups inhabit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Andamanese aborigines, Andaman Indians (descendants of an Indian penal colony functioning from 1848 to 1945), neosettlers who migrated from the mainland after Indian independence, and Nicobarese aborigines. The majority are Andaman Indians and neosettlers. The aborigine groups are each distinctive. With a total population of a few thousand, the Nicobarese aborigines are Indo-Chinese who are either animists or converted Christians and who still practice shifting cultivation. The Andamanese aborigines are pygmies and Negritos who hunt and fish. Though the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are sparsely and unevenly populated, around one-third of the inhabitants live in Port Blair, the only town and the business and commercial center. Elsewhere people live in clusters of small villages. The only (domestic) airport for regular flights to Calcutta and Madras is at Port Blair, which is also the most important seaport, connecting all other major islands by regular boat service.
Further Reading
Justin, Anstice. (1990) The Nicobarese. Calcutta, India: Seagull Books.
Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (1948) The Andaman Islanders. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
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