Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, and are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India. Port Blair is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative center of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the Andaman district (the Nicobar district was separated and established as a new district in 1974). The population of the Andamans was 314,084 in 2001.

Topography

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, unlike the Lakshadweep-Chagos chain, are high volcanic islands, arising from a submerged mountain chain that follows the southward extension of the continental shelf.

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Extensive fringing reefs exist here, as well as a 320 kilometers-long barrier reef on the west coast. Much of the wildlife on these islands is endemic, including 112 species of endemic birds. While poorly known scientifically, these reefs may prove to be the most diverse and best preserved in the Indian Ocean.

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The islands forming Great Andaman consist of a mass of hills enclosing very narrow valleys, the whole covered by dense tropical jungle. The hills rise to a considerable elevation:

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the chief heights being in the North Andaman, Saddle Peak (732 m); in the Middle Andaman, Mount Diavolo behind Cuthbert Bay (511 m); in the South Andaman, Koiob (459 m), Mount Harriet (364 m) and the Cholunga range (324 m); and in Rutland Island, Ford's Peak (433 m). Little Andaman is practically flat. There are no rivers and few perennial streams in the islands. The whole of the Andamans and the outlying islands were completely surveyed topographically by the Indian Survey Department under Colonel Hobday in 1883-1886, and the surrounding seas were charted by Commander Carpenter in 1888-1889.

Related Topics:
1883 - 1886 - 1888 - 1889

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