FACTOID #53: If you thought Antarctica was inhospitable, think again - its land area is only ninety-eight percent ice. Reassuringly, the other 2% is categorised as "barren rock".
Lakshadweep is a Union Territory of India. It consists of 36 coral islands totaling 32 kmē in the Arabian Sea, between 200 to 300 km off the coast of Kerala.
The main islands are Kavarrati (It is the Capital of Lakshadweep), Agatti, Minicoy, and Amini. The total population of the 10 inhabited islands is about 60,595 according to Census 2001. Agatti has an airport where there are direct flights from Cochin.
The name of the archipelago literally means hundred thousand islands (laksha = one hundred thousand, dweep = island). Until 1973, the island group was known by the anglicized name Laccadives (compare to Maldives, Sanskrit name Maladweepa).
The people of the islands speak a dialect of Malayalam and almost all of them are Muslims. It is a folk belief that they are descendants of traders who where washed up on the islands during a particularly heavy storm.
External links
Indian Reef Region - Lakshadweep Islands (http://www.reefindia.org/irregion/laksha.htm)
Official Site for Lakshadweep Islands (http://lakshadweep.nic.in/)
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