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. They are located southeast of the Indian subcontinent, separated by the Bay of Bengal by about 1,300 km. From the Indian Ocean Atlas, published by the Central Intelligence Agency, 1976. ... From the Indian Ocean Atlas, published by the Central Intelligence Agency, 1976. ... A Union Territory is an administrative division of India. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Andaman Islands. ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Look up Bay of Bengal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

General description

The Nicobars are separated from the Andaman Islands to the north by the 150 km wide Ten Degree Channel and are 189 km from the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southeast. The Andaman and Nicobar islands separate the Bay of Bengal from the Andaman Sea. Until the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Indira Point, south of Great Nicobar, was the southernmost point in India. This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ... The Ten Degree Channel is a channel (strait) that separates the Andaman Islands from the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... Look up Bay of Bengal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 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 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake,[1] was a great undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004 with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. ... Indira Point formerly (Pygmallion Point) situated in Andaman and Nicobar islands is the southernmost tip of India. ...

The Nicobar islands include 22 islands of various sizes, the largest being Great Nicobar. The total land area of the chain is 1841 km². The highest point on the Nicobars is Mount Thullier at 642 m. Great Nicobar is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. ... Mount Thullier is the highest point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India at 642 metres. ...

The population of the islands was 42,026 in 2001, roughly 65% of whom are indigenous peoples (the Nicobarese and Shompen peoples, listed among the Scheduled Tribes of India), and 35% migrants from India and Sri Lanka. The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ... Nicobarese is an isolated group of six closely related Mon-Khmer languages spoken in the Nicobar Islands of India. ... The Shompen are a Nicobarese aboriginal group. ... This is a full list of Scheduled Tribes in India, as recognised in Indias Constitution. ...

Island distribution

The islands cluster into three groups. The northern group includes

• Car Nicobar (127 km²)
• uninhabited Batti Malv (2 km²).

The central group includes Car Nicobar (known as Malacca or Pu in the local language) is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands, which in turn are the southern part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. ...

• Chowra (8 km²)
• Teressa (101 km²)
• Poahat (13.3 km²)
• Katchal (174 km²)
• Camorta (188 km²)
• Nancowry (67 km²)
• Trinket (86 km²)
• the Isle of Man and Tillangchong (17 km²) are uninhabited. Tillangchong is a wildlife sanctuary.

The southern group includes 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 the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. ... Trinket Island (29 sq km) is part of the Nicobar Islands chain, located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. ...

• Great Nicobar (1045 km²)
• Little Nicobar (157 km²)
• Kondul (4 km²)
• Pulomilo (1 km²)
• the islets of Meroe, Trak, Treis, Menchal, Cubra, Pigeon, and Megapod are uninhabited. Megapod is a wildlife sanctuary.

Great Nicobar is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. ...

Administration

The Islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. The capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory is Port Blair on South Andaman. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Andaman Islands. ... A Union Territory is an administrative division of India. ... Map of Andaman and Nicobar Islands with an extra detailed area around Port Blair Port Blair   (Hindi: पोर्ट ब्लेयर) (coordinates: ) is the largest town and a municipal council in Andamans district in the Andaman Islands and the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India. ...

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 a District of India, one of two districts in the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. ...

The Indian Government presently restricts access to the Nicobars by special permit, and in general non-Indian citizens are forbidden from visiting the Nicobar Islands.^{[citation needed]}

Nature

Geology

The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Eurasia. 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. An island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. ...  The Indo-Australian plate, shown in dull orange The Indo-Australian Plate is an overarching name for two tectonic plates that include the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean extending northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters. ... Eurasia African-Eurasian aspect of Earth Eurasia is the Earths largest landmass covering about 21215121321km² compared with the Americas (approximately 42,000,000 km²), Africa (approximately 30,000,000 km²), and Antarctica (approximately 13,000,000 km²). Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia. ... Perspective view of the Himalayas and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ... The Chin Hills is a range of hills in northwestern Myanmar that cross over into Assam, India. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... The Banyak Islands are a group of mostly uninhabited islands located between Simeulue and Nias off the western coast of Sumatra in the Aceh Province, Indonesia containing 99 small islands. ... The Mentawai Islands are a chain of islands off the west 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. Additionally, several islands contain extensive interior grasslands, though these are thought to result from human intervention. Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... Tropic wet forests in the World Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical wet forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Nicobar islands are recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, the Nicobar Islands rain forests, with many endemic species. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In biology and ecology endemic means exclusively native to a place or biota, in contrast to cosmopolitan or introduced. ...

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. 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. Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

See also:

• Endemic birds of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the Worlds various zoogeographic zones. ...

History

The Nicobar islands are believed to have been inhabited for thousands of years. 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. Several people still speak German because of the shortlived Austrian colonization (1778 - 1783). An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar called the Shompen may be of East Asian origin. Nicobarese is an isolated group of six closely related Mon-Khmer languages spoken in the Nicobar Islands of India. ... The Mon-Khmer languages are the autochthonous languages of Indo-China. ... The Austroasiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia and India. ... The Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken in Myanmar and Thailand. ... Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ) is one of the main Austroasiatic languages. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Munda Languages are spoken in north east India. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Shompen are a Nicobarese aboriginal group. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

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); they were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria: 1784 - 1807/09, 1830 - 1834 and finally from 1848 gradually for good. 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. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Colonialism. ... The Danish East India Company (in Danish Dansk Ostindisk Kompagni) was founded in 1616, following a privilege of the Danish king Christian IV. It was focused on trade with India and had its base in Tranquebar. ... Tranquebar, 1600. ... Danish India is a term for the former colonies of Denmark in India, which included the town of Tranquebar in present-day Tamil Nadu state, and the Nicobar Islands, currently part of Indias union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

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 ([1]). British India (otherwise known as The British Raj) was a historical period during which most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, were under the colonial authority of the British Empire (Undivided India). ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

The islands were occupied by Japan between 1942 and 1945. Together with the Andaman Islands, they became a union territory of India in 1950. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (8,293 sq km on 139 islands), are a group of islands situated in the Bay of Bengal at about 780 miles from Kolkata, 740 miles from Chennai and 120 miles from Cape Nargis in Burma. ... A Union Territory is an 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. At least 6000 people (possibly a conservative estimate) were believed to have been killed on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the disaster. 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. Surveyors were dispatched as initial reports were considered unreliable. December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 361st in leap years. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake,[1] was a great undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004 with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Andaman Islands. ... Indira Point formerly (Pygmallion Point) situated in Andaman and Nicobar islands is the southernmost tip of India. ...

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 7.2 on the Richter scale, struck the Nicobar Islands but there was no immediate report of death or destruction. July 24 is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The moment magnitude scale was introduced in 1979 by Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori as a successor to the Richter scale and is used by seismologists to compare the energy released by earthquakes. ...

Sources and External links

• WorldStatesmen- India
• Post-tsunami satellite photos from India's National Remote Sensing Agency (Alternate Link)

Coordinates: 7°05′N, 93°48′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...