Andaman & Nicobar Islands – The Unknown Paradise

Erstwhile known as Kalapani (Black Waters) for their dreadful penal settlement, now the Andaman & Nicobar Islands – 1000 km away from the Eastern cost in the Bay of Bengal- are considered as serenity island that belongs to India but geologically closer to Southern Asia. Outstanding, near-deserted seashores, marvelous corals as well as aquatic life, a fascinating regal past and the remains of a Stone Age culture that attract tourists to these occult islands.

Before the commencement of colonial rule, Andaman & Nicobar were mainly inhabited by aboriginal peoples, however, at present a good number of the Andamans’ population is mainland migrants or their successors who reside in & around the capital – Port Blair. It constitutes almost 572 tropical islands (out of which 36 are having inhabitants), with exclusive wildlife & blossoming forests, albeit the Nicobar Islands are out-of-bounds to tourists.

These islands has close proximity to the epicenter of the seaquake (tsunami) that occurred in 2004, which, further, led to destructive loss of homes & life on the southern Nicobar Islands & Little Andaman. Beside flooding in sea-level areas of Southern Andaman Island and harm to the coral reefs near Wandoor, the chief Andaman island group missed major harm, although other islands like Havelock markedly tilted with the geographical movement. Small-scale vacationists infrastructure had been gradually developing but nearly the complete absence of visitors during 2005, along with the expenditure & energy on fixing the damage, profaned many island-dwellers and there’s even much to do to perk up these picturesque islands’ tourism facilities.

The Andamans as the name suggests is basically a cluster of islands which are over 300 in number. Together North, Middle, and South Andaman are referred to as the Great Andaman and apart from these major islands others constitute of Ritchie’s Archipelago, Interview Island, Rutland Island, the Sentinel Islands and Landfall Island. Then of course, the Little Andaman located in the south is distinguished from the Nicobar Islands by the Ten Degree Channel, which is about 90 miles (145 km) wide.

The Nicobars comprises of 19 islands. Among the most prominent and well known are Car Nicobar located in the north; Camorta, Katchall, and Nancowry present in the center of the chain; and Great Nicobar towards the south region. Also, moving 90 miles to the southwest of Great Nicobar lies the northwestern tip of Sumatra which is better known as Indonesia.

The environmental condition of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands is hot but is moderated by a cooling breeze from the sea (during the daytime). The average temperature normally rise from the low about 23 °C to the mid about 30 °C daily all through the year. The island roughly receives 120 inches i.e. 3,000 mm of rainfall every year, brought predominately by the south-west air current that blows from May to September & by the tropic cyclones that blow in October & November. In the Nicobar islands, Great Nicobar gets substantially more rainfall than the any other island.

Apart from all these facts there are quite a lot of beaches bestowed with huge stretches of clean and yellow sands that has the ability to revive your mind, body and soul as well as free you from all sorts of anxiety.