New Andaman islands : strategic and ecological  significance-

  • October 13, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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New Andaman islands : strategic and ecological  significance–

Subject : Geography mapping

 Location and Composition–

  • It is located in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal, nearer to Indonesia and
  • This comprises of two island groups – the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands – which separates the Andaman Sea to the east from the Indian Ocean.
  • These two groups are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south.
  • The capital of this territory is the Andamanese town of Port Blair.
  • There are 836 Islands/Islets/Rocky Outcrops in the territory, of which only some 38 are permanently inhabited.
  • The smaller Nicobarscomprise some 22 main islands (10 inhabited).
  • The Andamans and Nicobars are separated by a channel (the Ten Degree Channel) some 150 km wide.

Demography of A&N Island–

  • The territory’s population as per the most recent (2011) Census of India was 3,79,944 and the literacy rate is 86.27%.
  • Added together, the total land area of the territory is approximately 8,249 km².
  • The total area of the Andaman Islands is 6,408 km² and that of the Nicobar Islands is 1,841 km²
  • Hindi and English are the official languages of the islands.
  • Bengali is the dominant and most spoken language, with 26% of the population speaking
  • The other major languages spoken in the islands are Hindi (18.23%),Tamil (17.68%),Telugu (12.81%), Malayalam (8.11%) and Nicobarese (8.05%) according to 2001 Census of India.
  • Other minor spoken languages are Kurukh/Oraon, Munda and
  • Andaman Creole Hindi is widely used as a trade language in the Andamans.

About Flora & Fauna–

  • Unique’ luxuriant evergreen tropical rainforest canopy, sheltering a mixed germ plasm bank, comprising of Indian, Myanmarese, Malaysian and endemic floral strain.
  • So far, about 2200,varieties of plants have been recorded out of which 200 are endemic and 1300 do not occur in mainland India.
  • Grasslands occur only in the Nicobars, and while deciduous forests are common in the Andamans, they are almost absent in the Nicobars.
  • The present forest coverage is claimed to be 2% of the total land area.
  • Timber-
  • Andaman Forest is abound in plethora of timber species numbering 200 or more, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be
  • Major commercial timber species are Gurjan (Dipterocarpus spp.) and Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides).
  • Ornamental wood such as (1) Marble Wood (Diospyros marmorata) (2) Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides), (3) Silver Grey (a special formation of wood in white chuglam) (4) Chooi (Sageraea elliptical and (5) Kokko (Albizzia lebbeck) are noted for their pronounced grain formation.
  • The holy Rudraksha (Elaeocarpssphaericus) and aromatic Dhoop/Resin trees also occur here.
  • Fauna–
  • MAMMALS –
    • About 50 varieties of forest mammals are found to occur in A&N Islands, most of them are understood to be brought in from outside and are now considered endemic due to their prolonged insular adaptation.
    • Rat is the largest group having 26 species followed by 14 species of bat.
    • Among the larger mammals there are two endemic varieties of wild pig namely Sus Scrofa andamanensis from Andaman and S.nicobaricus from Nicobar.
    • The spotted deer Axis axis, Barking deer and Sambar are found in Andaman District.Interview island in Middle Andaman holds a fairly good stock of feral elephants.
    • Fishes and Corals
  • Butterflies and Moths–
    • With about 225 species, the A&N Islands house some of the larger and most spectacular butterflies of the world.
    • Ten species are endemic to these
    • Mount Harriet National Park is one of the richest areas of butterfly and moth diversity on these Islands.
  • Shells-
  • These islands are traditionally known for their shell wealth specially Turbo,Trochus, Murex and Nautilus which are being used as novelties supporting many cottage industries producing a wide range of decorative items & ornaments.
  • State symbols–
  • State Bird- Andaman Wood Pigeon
  • State Animal- Dugong
  • State Tree- Andaman Padauk
  • Particularly vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) who have been identified in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. They are:-
  1. Great Andamanese of Strait Island
  2. Onges of Little Andaman
  3. Jarawas of South and Middle Andaman
  4. Sentinelese of Sentinel Islands
  5. Shompens of Great Nicobar
Geography Mapping New Andaman islands : strategic and ecological  significance