Floating
in splendid isolation, cast of the Indian mainland is
the archipelago of 572 emerald islands, islets and rocks
known as Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This Union Territory
is stretched over an area of more than 700 Km. from
north to south with 36 inhabited islands. Once a hill
range extending from Burma (Myanmar) to Indonesia, these
undulating. Mythologicaly, the name Andaman was presumed
to be derived from Hanuman, who was known to the Malays
as Handuman. Since Prehistoric times, these islands
were the home of aboriginal tribes. The tribes of, the
Andaman group of islands are the Great Andamanese, Onges,
Jarawas, and Sentinatese, all of Negrito origin, while
the tribes of Nicobars are the Nicobarese and Shompens,
both of Mongoloid stock. The first settlement by the
British took place in 1789, which was later abandoned
in 1796. The second settlement was basically a penal
settlement, taken up in 1858, after the First War of
Independence, followed by the settlement of convicts,
Moplas, some criminal tribes from Central and United
Provinces, refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan, Burma
and Sri Lanka as well as ex-servicemen.In these islands
people of all faiths - Hindus, Muslims, Christians,
Sikhs etc., and of all languages like Hindi, Bengali,
Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Nicobari etc., live
together in complete peace and harmony. Inter-religion
and inter-regional marriages are common. This amazing
racial and cultural mix is correctly described as Mini-India.
Forests are the green extend over gold of the islands.
The reserved and protected forests extend over 86% area
of the territory and the forest cover is more than 92
%. About 50 % of the forests has been set aside as Tribal
Reserves, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, which
are inviolate. Luxuriant mangroves, perhaps the richest
in the world, occupy nearly II. 5 % of the territory.
More than 150 plant and animals species are endemic
in nature. Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park is rich
in corals, varieties of colored fishes, sea turtles
etc., besides other marine life. It is a birds paradise
- more than 271 varieties of birds inhabit the idyllic
landscape, out of which 39 are endemic. Megapode, Swiftlet,
Hornbill and Nicobar Pigeon are some of the specialties
of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
