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Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Andaman and Nicobar Islands , union territory (2001 provisional pop. 356,265), India, in the Bay of Bengal. Port Blair (1991 pop. 74,955), in the Andamans, is the capital. Comprising the Andaman Islands, or Andaman Archipelago (2,508 sq mi/6,496 sq km), in the north and the Nicobar Islands (707 sq mi/1,831 sq km) in the south, the territory chiefly exports tropical products and lumber. Tourism is economically important. The islands, less than 40 of which are inhabited and some of which are subject to volcanic eruptions, are administered by the home ministry in the central Indian government.

Known to Europeans since the 7th cent. AD, the Andamans, consisting of some 300 islands, were the site of a British penal colony from 1858 to 1945. The population is made up of indigenous Negritos (numbering less than 1,000) and largely Bengali and Tamil settlers from the Indian mainland. Settlers greatly outnumber the indigenous peoples, hundreds of which died from epidemics in the late 19th cent. Some of the Negritos have preserved a Stone Age culture.

The Nicobars, which comprise 19 small islands, are separated from the Andamans by a channel that is 90 mi (145 km) wide. The native population is of Mongolic stock. The Nicobars became a British possession in 1869. Japanese forces occupied both archipelagos during World War II.

Since World War II and Indian independence, some of the islands have undergone significant population growth and economic development, include Indian military bases, and regular air and ship services connect the islands with the mainland. The islands were especially hard hit by the Dec., 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami, because of their relative closeness to the epicenter (off NW Sumatra) of the earthquake that caused the waves; some 3,500 people are believed to have died.

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"Andaman and Nicobar Islands." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | | Copyright

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, adjacent groups in the Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean) which were administered by India. In March 1942, after Rangoon had fallen to the Japanese at the start of the Burma campaign, the British garrison was withdrawn. The same month the islands were occupied by the Japanese who, at the end of 1943, handed over their administration, but not their defence, to Subhas Chandra Bose's Provisional government of Free India. The islands were strategically placed but in December 1943 it was decided at the Cairo conference (see SEXTANT) to postpone a plan (BUCCANEER) to capture them—all available landing craft were needed for the Normandy landings in Europe (see OVERLORD)—and the Japanese garrison, harassed by Allied air raids, remained there until the war ended.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-AndamanandNicobarIslands.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-AndamanandNicobarIslands.html

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Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India A Union Territory. The Andamans may derive their name from the Sanskrit hanumant, from Hanuman, the monkey‐general in the Rāmāyaṇa, the Romance of Rāmā, one of the two great epic poems of India. The Nicobars may have had the name Nakkavāram ‘Land of the Naked’ from the Hindi nangā ‘naked’. Under Danish sovereignty 1756–1848, the Islands were annexed by the British in 1869, occupied by the Japanese 1942–5, and passed to India on independence in 1947. The Andaman Islands gave their name to the Andaman Sea.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-AndamanandNicobarIslands.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Andaman and Nicobar Islands." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-AndamanandNicobarIslands.html

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Andaman and Nicobar Islands

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Territory of India comprising two chains of islands in the Bay of Bengal. The capital is Port Blair (on South Andaman). It's main exports are timber, coffee, coconuts, and copra. The population of the islands (one of India's seven Union Territories) almost doubled in the decade to 1991. Area: 8300sq km (3200sq mi). Pop. (2001) 356,265.

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