The Nicobar Islands cover a land area of 1,841 square kilometres (711 sq mi)[2] and a population of 36,844 inhabitants, according to the2011 census of India. They comprise three distinct groups:
The Nicobar Islands are part of a greatisland arc created by the collision of theIndo-Australian Plate withEurasia. The collision lifted theHimalayas and most of the Indonesian islands, and created a long arc of highlands and islands, which includes theArakan Yoma range ofBurma, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and the islands off the west coast ofSumatra, including theBanyak Islands and theMentawai Islands.[3]
The climate is warm and tropical, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 30 °C (72 to 86 °F). Rainfall is heavy due to annual monsoons and measures around 3,000 to 3,800 mm (120 to 150 in) each year.[3]
The vegetation of the Nicobars is typically divided into the coastalmangrove forests and the interior evergreen and deciduoustropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Additionally, several islands contain extensive inlandgrasslands, though these are thought to have resulted from human intervention.[3]
As a result of lower sea levels during theice 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 linked 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.
AWorld Biosphere Reserve was declared on Grand Nicobar byUNESCO on 31 May 31 2013.[4] TheGreat Nicobar Biosphere Reserve consists of an area of 103,870 hectares (256,700 acres). The core area, which measures 53,623 hectares (132,510 acres), comprises Campbell Bay and Galathea National Parks. A buffer area of 34,877 hectares (86,180 acres) includes lands adjacent to and between the two parks. There is also a transitional area of 10,070 hectares (24,900 acres), including 5,300 marine hectares (13,000 acres).[5][3]
The islands had a population of 36,842 in 2011.[7] The indigenous ethnic groups are theNicobarese and theShompen. Local languages includeShompen and the languages of the tinNicobarese group.
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 theAustroasiatic language family, which includesthe Mon,Khmer, andVietnamese languages ofSoutheast Asia, as well as theMunda languages of India. An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar, known as the Shompen, may be ofMesolithic Southeast Asian origin.[8]
The earliest extant references to the name "Nicobar" is in theSri LankanPaliBuddhist chronicles, theDipavamsa (c. 3rd or 4th century CE) and theMahavamsa (c. 4th or 5th century), which state that the children of the followers of the legendary founder of the Sri Lankan Kingdom, Vijaya, landed onNaggadipa (the island of the children, from the Palinagga meaning 'naked').[9] In the ninth century, the Persian explorerAbū Zayd al-Sīrāfī referred to the Nicobar Islands as Lanjabālūs.[10]The modern name is likely derived from theChola dynasty name for the islands,Nakkavaram (may be referring to open/naked land or naked man's land inTamil), which is inscribed on theThanjavur (Tanjore) inscription of 1050 CE.[11][12][13]Marco Polo (12th-13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann'.
Organized Europeancolonization on the islands began with theDanish East India Company in 1754/56. During this time, they were administered fromTranquebar (in continentalDanish India) under the name ofFrederiksøerne. Missionaries from theMoravian Church Brethren's settlement in Tranquebar attempted a settlement onNancowry and died in great numbers from disease. The islands were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks ofmalaria: 1784–1807/09, 1830–1834, and finally from 1848, gradually for good. Between 1778 and 1783,William Bolts attempted to establish anAustrian colony on the islands on the mistaken assumption thatDenmark–Norway had abandoned its claims to the islands.[15]
Italy attempted to buy the Nicobar Islands from Denmark between 1864 and 1865. The Italian Minister of Agriculture and Commerce,Luigi Torelli, started a negotiation that looked promising but failed due to the unexpected end of his office and thesecond La Marmora Cabinet. The negotiations were interrupted and never brought up again.[16]
Denmark's presence in the islands ended formally on 16 October 1868 when it sold the rights to the Nicobar Islands to the United Kingdom,[15] which, in 1869, made them part ofBritish India.
During theSecond World War, the islands wereinvaded and occupied by Japan between 1942 and 1945. In May 1945,HMS Ceylon shelled Japanese positions on the islands. The British regained possession of the islands after thesurrender of Japan, announced on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945. After the war, Pakistani politicianChoudhry Rahmat Ali proposed that the Nicobars (which he called the "Balus Islands") would have a sizeable Muslim population and thus would be integrated to the Dominion ofPakistan. However, this never materialised.
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 30 metres (100 ft) by the earthquake and tilted.
Indira Point subsided 4.25 metres (13.9 ft) and the lighthouse there was damaged.
Airport:Car Nicobar has an airstrip onCar Nicobar Air Force Base of 2,717 by 43 metres (8,914 by 141 ft) on the South East coast near Malacca but does not offer commercial service.Great Nicobar has a small airstrip of approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) at Campbell Bay/Tenlaa on its East Coast.
Seaport: At least one small shipping dock is located in Campbell Bay on the East coast of Great Nicobar. Car Nicobar has a small dock at its Northern tip near Keating Point and Mus.
^Abū Zayd al-Sīrāfī (2017).Accounts of China and India. New York University Press.
^C Rasanayagam (1926).Ancient Jaffna. Asian Educational Society (reprint).ISBN978-81-206-0210-6.P53 "Naggadipa, where the children are alleged to have landed, is certainly Nicobars, the Nakkavaram of the Tamils, ...{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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