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Port Blair
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Area : Total
Area: 8,249 Sq.kms.
Altitude : Varies from sea level to 732 mts.
Introduction :-
If one loves the sight of wispy coconut palms swaying in the breeze…
the feel of soft white sand under your bare feet… the flash of birds
vivid against the blue sky… the play of green shadows in the forest…
the infinite variety of underwater marine life… he will definitely
enjoy visiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also known as the
Emerald Islands.
As archipelago of 572 islands adrift in the Bay of Bengal the union
territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands stretches over an area of
more than 700 sq. kms.
Since pre-historic times aboriginal tribes have lived on these
islands. The Andaman group is inhabited by tribes of Negrito origin
while the Nicobar Islands are inhabited by the Mongloid stock. The
first settlement of the British took place in 1789 and later in 1858
it became a penal settlement.
Today people of all faiths live here-Hindus, Muslims, Christians,
Sikhs and of course the tribals. This amazing linguistic and racial
mix has resulted in a culture that is innately hospitable and
uniquely distinctive.
For the nature lover the islands offer rich and varied delights. The
sea around offers ample scope for water sports while the islands
themselves consist of their lush green forest cover extending to
over 86% of the territory. The rarest of rare flora and fauna have
flourished undisturbed on these islands more so because only 36 of
these are inhabited.
Adventure sports like trekking island camping snorkelling and scuba
diving are not be missed attractions. And for tourists who want to
get away from the madding crowd a visit to these islands remains
etched in the memory forever.
In the Bay of Bengal 1000 kms off the east coast of India the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprise around 500 mostly uninhabited
tropical islands with unique fauna lush forests white sandy beaches
and exquisite coral. The brilliant tropical flora and are thickly
forested with evergreen deciduous rainforest and tropical trees with
mangrove swamps on the water’s edge. Hilly in parts they have superb
palm-fringed white-sand beaches and coral reefs. The sparkling clear
water is excellent for snorkelling with increasing opportunity for
fabulous scuba diving for beginners and the experienced. The
Andamans are also a bird-watcher’s paradise with 242 species of
mammals and 83 of reptiles many endemic as the islands are isolated.
It is now in theory possible to visit some of the newly opened
remoter islands.
The islands form the peaks of a vast submerged mountain range that
extends for almost 1000 kms between Myanmar (Burma) and Sumatra. The
highest point addle Peak is on North Andaman. The Nicobar Islands
begin 50 kms south of the little Andaman.
While geographically close to Myanmar politically the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands belong to the Union territory of India.
Until the beginnings of the colonial rule the Andamans were
populated mainly by Andamanese indigenous tribes of the Negrito
peoples. Patterns of traditional life still remain among the Jarawa
and Onge tribes who live in the interior regions of South Andaman.
However the majority of the 30,000 people on the Andamans are
mainland settlers of their descendants who live in and around Port
Blair the capital on South Andaman. The indigenous inhabitants of
the Nicobars the Nicobarese probably descended from people of
Malaysia and Myanmar. Their dialects belong to the Mon-Khmer group. |
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