Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located in the east of continental India closer to Southeast Asia on the border of the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. There are about 600 islands in total, of which only 38 are inhabited. The total area of the islands is just over 8 thousand kilometers.
Primeval nature
Tourists are attracted here by the virgin jungle, mantra forest, and unforgettable crimson sunsets. Snow-white beaches are washed by the clearest emerald waters of warm seas. Numerous divers are especially attracted by the underwater beauty and transparent waves.
Primitive tribe
Some of the Adaman Islands are home to the Sentinelese people, whose tools, according to some evidence, remain at the Paleolithic level. And although this statement is disputed by some anthropologists, the naive and friendly people always arouse great interest and attract the attention of tourists.
When the first people appeared on the Adaman and Nicobar Islands is not known for certain. But scientists claim that the tools found here could have been made about 2,000 years ago. In their opinion, people sailed here from Southeast Asia; they are the closest relatives of the Negrito and Malay ethnic groups. Unthinkable legends were made about the local aborigines. For example, the Italian merchant Marco Polo claimed that cruel savages with dog heads lived on the islands.
It is interesting that the name of the Andaman group of islands could come from the monkey god Hanuman, who helped Prince Rama build a bridge between India and Sri Lanka.
Many are surprised by the fact that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located almost under the noses of Malaysia or Thailand, belong to distant India. How did this happen?
The beginning of the development of the islands by Europeans is associated with the activities of the Danish East India Company in the second half of the 18th century. Already in 1756, the lands became Danish territory, renamed New Denmark. The Danes repeatedly abandoned their small colony due to outbreaks of deadly malaria. For a time, the territory passed to the Austrians, who renamed it the Teresa Islands in honor of their empress. And in 1789, the British looked at it for themselves with the aim of creating a penal colony for criminals from Indian territory. For some time, a cell prison operated here, where political prisoners were kept in the most brutal conditions. The islands were claimed by the Italians for a time, and the territory finally became part of British India in 1868, when the Danes sold it to Great Britain.
During the Second World War, the colony was occupied for some time by the Japanese, who turned out to be extremely cruel to the local population.
After India gained independence in 1947, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands became part of the Indian Union. The population of the small islands then reached 350 thousand people. In 2004, an earthquake of unprecedented power occurred on the islands, followed by a tsunami. According to some reports, up to 20% of the population died here.
