Map of the Mergui Archipelago

The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago) is an archipelago in far southern Myanmar (Burma). It consists of more than 800 islands, varying in size from very small to hundreds of square kilometres, all lying in the Andaman Sea off the western shore of the Malay Peninsula near its landward (northern) end where it joins the rest of Indochina. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (973x1808, 61 KB) Map of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (973x1808, 61 KB) Map of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar. ... The Mergui Archipelago An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... The Andaman Sea (Burmese: ; IPA: ) is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands; it is part of the Indian Ocean. ... The Malay Peninsula (Malay: Semenanjung Tanah Melayu) is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. ... Indochina 1886 Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. ...

Environment

Geologically, the islands are characterized mainly by limestone and granite. They are as a general rule covered with thick tropical growth, including rainforest, and their shorelines are punctuated by beaches, rocky headlands, and in some places, mangrove swamps. Offshore are extensive coral reefs.-1... Close-up of granite from Yosemite National Park, valley of the Merced River Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Ninety Mile Beach Australia. ... The bay at San Sebastián, Spain A headland is an area of land adjacent to water on three sides. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef. ...

The archipelago's virtual isolation from most of mankind's unwholesome influence on the natural environment has given the islands and the surrounding waters of the Andaman Sea a great diversity of flora and fauna, contributing to the region's growing popularity as a diving destination. The Andaman Sea (Burmese: ; IPA: ) is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands; it is part of the Indian Ocean. ... In Botany a Flora (or Floræ) is a collective term for plant life and can also refer to a descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. ... Fauna is a collective term for animal life. ...

On the islands themselves, various animals thrive, including deer, elephants, monkeys, tigers and wild swine. There are even unconfirmed reports of Sumatran rhinoceros on Lampi, one of the bigger islands. “Fawn” redirects here. ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas antiquus † Elephas beyeri † Elephas celebensis † Elephas cypriotes † Elephas ekorensis † Elephas falconeri † Elephas iolensis † Elephas planifrons † Elephas platycephalus † Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of pachyderm, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea... Approximate worldwide distribution of monkeys. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) Historical distribution of tigers (pale yellow) and 2006 (green). ... It has been suggested that Wild Boar in Britain be merged into this article or section. ... Binomial name Fischer, 1814 Sumatran Rhinoceros range Subspecies Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis †Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis The Sumatran Rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is the smallest extant rhinoceros species, as well as the one with the most fur, which allows it to survive at very high altitudes in Borneo and Sumatra. ...

Environmental threats to the region include overfishing and also blast fishing. Myanmar's current military government, the "State Peace and Development Council", has not done much to deal with these problems. × The Traffic Light colour convention, showing the concept of Harvest Control Rule (HCR), specifying when a rebuilding plan is mandatory in terms of precautionary and limit reference points for spawning biomass and fishing mortality rate. ... Blast fishing or dynamite fishing describes the practice of using dynamite or other explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. ... General Augusto Pinochet (sitting) as head of the newly established military junta in Chile, September 1973. ... The State Peace and Development Council (Burmese: ; IPA: ; abbreviated SPDC) is the official name of the military regime of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). ...

Population

The local people are an ethnic minority called the Moken, sometimes known as sea Gypsies, although this term actually covers several groups in Southeast Asia. They are a sea-dwelling people and they follow a traditional way of life, doing things such as fishing and building boats very much the way they have been done for centuries. They can be found living on their traditional boats during the dry season, but usually keep to land in the rainy season. The Moken (Sometimes called Sea Gypsies) are an ethnic group with about 2000 to 3000 members who maintain a nomadic, sea-based culture. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Moken. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

Tourism

The area was only opened up to foreign tourism in 1997 after negotiations between Myanmar and dive operators from Phuket in Thailand. The archipelago's isolation is such that much of it has not even yet been thoroughly explored. Phuket (Thai ภูเก็ต) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. ...

Owing to the archipelago's remoteness, a liveaboard cruise is the only way for visitors to go diving in areas with names such as Big Bank, Rainbow Reef or Silvertip Bank. Some islands have huge boulders, soft corals and sea fans. Others offer wall diving, caverns, tunnels and drop-offs. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Professional diving. ... Families Suborder Alcyoniina Suborder Calcaxonia Suborder Holaxonia Suborder Protoalcyonaria Suborder Scleraxonia Suborder Stolonifera Suborder Incertae sedis Wikispecies has information related to: Alcyonacea Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Alcyonaria The Alcyonacea, or the soft corals are an order of corals which do not produce calcium carbonate cups. ... A sea fan is a form of sessile colonial cnidarian, similar to a sea pen or a soft coral, found in tropical and subtropical seawater. ...

Dive sites such as Shark Cave feature grey reef, bull, nurse and whale sharks. Black Rock has manta rays and schools of mobula (devil) rays. Photographers are attracted by frogfish, ghost pipefish, ribbon eels and cowries as well as many crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, and shrimps. Binomial name Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (Bleeker, 1856) The Gray Reef Shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) is one of the most common sharks found around coral reefs of Indo-Pacific waters. ... Binomial name (Müller and Henle, 1839) Range of bull shark The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, also known as the bull whaler, Zambezi shark or colloquially Zambi in Africa and Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is common worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. ... Binomial name Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788) The nurse shark Ginglymostoma cirratum is a shark in the nurse sharks family and may reach a length of 4. ... Binomial name (Smith, 1828) Range of whale shark The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow filter feeding shark that is the largest living fish species. ... Binomial name Dondorff, 1798 The manta ray, or giant manta (Manta birostris), is the largest of the rays, with the largest known specimen having been nearly 7. ... Mobula is a genus of ray in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). ... Genera Allenichthys Antennarius Antennatus Echinophryne Histiophryne Histrio Kuiterichthys Lophiocharon Nudiantennarius Phyllophryne Rhycherus Tathicarpus See text for species. ... Species Solenostomus armatus Solenostomus cyanopterus Solenostomus halimeda Solenostomus leptosoma Solenostomus paradoxus The false pipefishes or ghost pipefishes or tubemouth fishes are a small family Solenostomidae in the order Syngnathiformes. ... Binomial name Rhinomuraena quaesita (Garman, 1881) The ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita) is one of the most unique species of saltwater eels. ... Species Cypraea annulus Cypraea moneta Cypraea pantherina Cypraea spurca Cypraea tigris Cypraea vitellus Cyprea linx Various species of Cowry from all over the world Cowry shells (also spelled “cowrie”), are marine snails of the genus Cypraea (family Cypraeidae), found chiefly in tropical regions, especially around the Maldives or the East... Classes Remipedia Cephalocarida Branchiopoda Ostracoda Maxillopoda Malacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,000 species), usually treated as a subphylum. ... Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ... Superfamilies Dromiacea Homolodromioidea Dromioidea Homoloidea Eubrachyura Raninoidea Cyclodorippoidea Dorippoidea Calappoidea Leucosioidea Majoidea Hymenosomatoidea Parthenopoidea Retroplumoidea Cancroidea Portunoidea Bythograeoidea Xanthoidea Bellioidea Potamoidea Pseudothelphusoidea Gecarcinucoidea Cryptochiroidea Pinnotheroidea * Ocypodoidea * Grapsoidea * An asterisk (*) marks the crabs included in the clade Thoracotremata. ... Superfamilies Alpheoidea Atyoidea Bresilioidea Campylonotoidea Crangonoidea Galatheacaridoidea Nematocarcinoidea Oplophoroidea Palaemonoidea Pandaloidea Pasiphaeoidea Procaridoidea Processoidea Psalidopodoidea Stylodactyloidea True shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. ...

The best diving conditions exist from December to April, with whale sharks and manta rays visiting from February to May.

References

Mergui

Mergui Environment

External links

• Hundreds of pictures of Mergui Archipelago
• Article with many pictures from the Greater Phuket Magazine
• Diving in the Mergui Archipelago
• E-Book "Hand Book on Tours in Mergui Archipelago"Italic text by Sonny AMO