Editing Andaman Islands

{{short description|Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Verification|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox islands
| name                = Andaman Islands
| native_name         = <!-- or local name to remove the "native name:" prefix -->
| sobriquet           = <!-- or nickname -->
| image_name          =
| image_size          =
| image_caption       =
| image_alt           =
| image_map           = Andaman Islands.PNG
| image_map_caption   = Location in the Indian Ocean
| location            = [[Bay of Bengal]]
| coordinates         = {{Coord|12|30|N|92|45|E|region:IN_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago         = [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
| total_islands       = 572
| major_islands       = [[North Andaman Island]], [[Little Andaman]], [[Middle Andaman Island]], [[South Andaman Island]]
| area_km2            = 6,408
| area_footnotes      =
| rank                =
| length_km           = <!-- or length m -->
| length_footnotes    =
| width_km            = <!-- or width m -->
| width_footnotes     =
| coastline_km        = <!-- or coastline m -->
| coastline_footnotes =
| elevation_m         = 732
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount       = [[Saddle Peak (Andaman Islands)|Saddle Peak]]
| country                          = {{IND}}
| country_admin_divisions_title    = Union territory
| country_admin_divisions          = [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1  =
| country_admin_divisions_1        =
| country_admin_divisions_title_2  =
| country_admin_divisions_2        =
| country_capital                  = [[Port Blair]]
| country_largest_city             =
| country_largest_city_population  =
| country_leader_title             =
| country_leader_name              =
| country1                         = {{MMR}}
| country1_admin_divisions_title   = Administrative region
| country1_admin_divisions         = [[Yangon Region]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country1_admin_divisions_1       =
| country1_capital_type            =
| country1_capital                 = [[Yangon]]
| demonym           =
| population        = [http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_ani.html 343,125]
| population_as_of  = 2011
| density_km2       = 48
| density_footnotes =
| ethnic_groups     = [[Bamar people|Bamar]]<br /> [[Indo-Aryans|Indic]]<br>[[Dravidians|Dravidian]]<br />[[Jarawas (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]]<br />[[Onge]]<br />[[Sentinelese]]<br />[[Great Andamanese]]
| timezone1         = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1       = +5:30
| timezone1_DST     = {{nowrap|not observed}}
| utc_offset1_DST   = +5:30
| website           = {{URL|http://www.andaman.nic.in}}
| additional_info   =
}}
[[File:Andaman nicobar 76.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|{{center|Detailed map<br />of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}]]

The '''Andaman Islands''' ({{IPAc-en|'|æ|n|d|@|m|@|n}}) are an [[archipelago]], made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern [[Indian Ocean]] about {{cvt|130|km}} southwest off the coasts of [[Myanmar]]'s [[Ayeyarwady Region]]. Together with the [[Nicobar Islands]] to their south, the Andamans serve as a [[maritime boundary]] between the [[Bay of Bengal]] to the west and the [[Andaman Sea]] to the east. Most of the islands are part of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], a [[Union Territory]] of [[India]], while the [[Coco Islands]] and [[Preparis Island]] are part of the [[Yangon Region]] of [[Myanmar]].

The Andaman Islands are home to the [[Andamanese peoples|Andamanese]], a group of indigenous people made up of a number of tribes, including the [[Jarawas (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]] and [[Sentinelese]].<ref name="trained_news.au">{{cite news |title=Police face-off with Sentinelese tribe as they struggle to recover slain missionary's body |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/police-faceoff-with-sentinelese-tribe-as-they-struggle-to-recover-slain-missionarys-body/news-story/a88d3780059939a5e11ebcfb556327ac |access-date=26 November 2018 |work=News.com.au |date=26 November 2018 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126034539/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/police-faceoff-with-sentinelese-tribe-as-they-struggle-to-recover-slain-missionarys-body/news-story/a88d3780059939a5e11ebcfb556327ac |url-status=live }}</ref> While some of the islands can be visited with permits, entry to others, including [[North Sentinel Island]], is banned by law. The Sentinelese are generally hostile to visitors and have had [[Uncontacted peoples|little contact]] with any other people. The Indian government and coast guard protect their right to privacy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andaman.gov.in/web/guest/indigenous-tribes|title=Andaman & Nicobar|website=The Internet Archive|publisher=A&N Administration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611075752/http://www.and.nic.in/archives/andaman/tribes.php|archive-date=11 June 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=13 February 2017}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Distribution of different Andamanese peoples, languages, and dialects at the time of British contact compared to the present day.png|thumb|The distributions of different Andamanese peoples, languages, and dialects at the time of British contact compared to the present-day.]]

===Etymology===
In the 13th century, the name of Andaman appears in Late [[Middle Chinese]] as ''ʔˠan<sup>H</sup> dɑ mˠan'' ({{lang|zh|晏陀蠻}}, pronounced ''yàntuómán'' in modern [[Mandarin Chinese]]) in the book ''[[Zhu Fan Zhi]]'' by [[Zhao Rukuo]].<ref name="ZhuFanZhi">{{cite book |title=Chau Ju-kua: His Work on the Chinese And Arab Trade in the Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu-fan-chï |translator= Friedrich Hirth |translator2= William Woodville Rockhill |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023289345 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924023289345/page/n162 147] | year=1911 | publisher= St. Petersburg, Printing office of the Imperial academy of sciences | quote=When sailing from lan-wu-li to si-lan, if the wind is not fair, ships maybe driven to a place called Yen-to-man. This is a group of two islands in the middle of the sea, one of them being large, the other small; the latter is quite uninhabited. ... The natives on it are of a colour resembling black lacquer; they eat men alive, so that sailors dare not anchor on this coast. }}</ref> In Chapter 38 of the book, ''Countries in the Sea'', Zhao Rukuo specifies that going from Lambri ([[Sumatra]]) to Ceylan, an unfavourable wind makes ships drift towards the Andaman Islands.<ref name="ZhuFanZhi" /><ref>{{cite book
  | title=Ser Marco Polo : notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery
  | author1=Cordier, Henri
  | author2=Yule, Henry
  | year=1920
  | publisher=London: John Murray
  | language=en
  | url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00cord
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00cord/page/109 109]
}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2019}} In the 15th century, Andaman was recorded as "Andeman Mountain" (安得蠻山, pronounced ''āndémán shān'' in modern Mandarin Chinese) during the [[voyages of Zheng He]] in the [[Mao Kun map]] of the [[Wu Bei Zhi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wu Bei Zhi Map 17 |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7821rm.gct00058/?sp=17 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=1 August 2019 |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221105843/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7821rm.gct00058/?sp=17 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Early inhabitants===
The oldest archaeological evidence for the habitation of the islands dates to the [[1st millennium BC]]. Genetic evidence suggests that the indigenous [[Andamanese peoples]] share a common origin, and that the islands were settled sometime after 26,000 years ago, possibly at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]], when sea levels were much lower reducing the distance between the Andaman Islands and the Asian mainland,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chaubey |first1=Gyaneshwer |last2=Endicott |first2=Phillip |date=June 2013 |title=The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia |url=https://bioone.org/journals/human-biology/volume-85/issue-1_2f_3/027.085.0307/The-Andaman-Islanders-in-a-Regional-Genetic-Context--Reexamining/10.3378/027.085.0307.full |journal=Human Biology |volume=85 |issue=1/3 |pages=153–172 |doi=10.3378/027.085.0307 |pmid=24297224 |issn=0018-7143}}</ref> with genetic estimates suggesting that the two main linguistic groups diverged around 16,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sitalaximi |first1=T. |last2=Varghese |first2=N. |last3=Kashyap |first3=V.K. |date=February 2023 |title=Genetic differentiation of Andaman Islanders and their relatedness to Nicobar Islanders |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2773044123000074 |journal=Human Gene |language=en |volume=35 |pages=201148 |doi=10.1016/j.humgen.2023.201148}}</ref> Andamanese peoples are a genetically distinct group highly divergent from other Asians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mondal |first1=Mayukh |last2=Casals |first2=Ferran |last3=Xu |first3=Tina |last4=Dall'Olio |first4=Giovanni M |last5=Pybus |first5=Marc |last6=Netea |first6=Mihai G |last7=Comas |first7=David |last8=Laayouni |first8=Hafid |last9=Li |first9=Qibin |last10=Majumder |first10=Partha P |last11=Bertranpetit |first11=Jaume |date=September 2016 |title=Genomic analysis of Andamanese provides insights into ancient human migration into Asia and adaptation |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3621 |journal=Nature Genetics |language=en |volume=48 |issue=9 |pages=1066–1070 |doi=10.1038/ng.3621 |pmid=27455350 |hdl=10230/34401 |issn=1061-4036|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jinam |first1=Timothy A. |last2=Phipps |first2=Maude E. |last3=Aghakhanian |first3=Farhang |last4=Majumder |first4=Partha P. |last5=Datar |first5=Francisco |last6=Stoneking |first6=Mark |last7=Sawai |first7=Hiromi |last8=Nishida |first8=Nao |last9=Tokunaga |first9=Katsushi |last10=Kawamura |first10=Shoji |last11=Omoto |first11=Keiichi |last12=Saitou |first12=Naruya |date=August 2017 |title=Discerning the Origins of the Negritos, First Sundaland People: Deep Divergence and Archaic Admixture |url=http://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/9/8/2013/3952725/Discerning-the-Origins-of-the-Negritos-First |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |language=en |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=2013–2022 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evx118 |issn=1759-6653 |pmc=5597900 |pmid=28854687}}</ref>[[File:The Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal were said to be inhabited by wolf-headed people.jpg|thumb|left|The Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal were said to be inhabited by [[Cynocephaly#High and late medieval travel literature|wolf-headed people]], who were depicted in a "book of wonders" produced in Paris in the early 15th century.]]

===Chola empire===
[[Rajendra Chola I|Rajendra I]] took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/children/happy-in-havelock/article18376630.ece|title=Happy in Havelock|last=Krishnan|first=Madhuvanti S.|date=4 May 2017|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 November 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222085712/https://www.thehindu.com/children/happy-in-havelock/article18376630.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> He used the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a strategic naval base to launch an expedition against the [[Srivijaya|Sriwijaya Empire]]. The [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] called the island Ma-Nakkavaram ("great open/naked land"), found in the [[Thanjavur]] inscription of 1050 [[Common Era|CE]]. European traveller [[Marco Polo]] (12th–13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann' and a corrupted form of the Tamil name Nakkavaram would have led to the modern name Nicobar during the British colonial period.<ref name="goi1908">{{Cite journal|author=Government of India|year=1908|title=The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetteer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrwBAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta|quote=''... In the great Tanjore inscription of 1050 CE, the Andamans are mentioned under a translated name along with the Nicobars, as '''Nakkavaram''' or land of the naked people.''}}</ref>

===British colonial era===
In 1789, the [[Bengal Presidency]] established a naval base and [[penal colony]] on [[Chatham Island (Andaman)|Chatham Island]] in the southeast bay of [[South Andaman Island|Great Andaman]]. The settlement is now known as [[Port Blair]] (after the [[Bombay Marine]] lieutenant [[Archibald Blair]] who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral [[William Cornwallis]]. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=957–958}}<ref name="olivierblaise">{{Cite journal | title=Andaman Islands, India | author=Blaise, Olivier | publisher=PictureTank | url=http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | access-date=16 November 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715083143/http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | archive-date=15 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the [[First Burmese War]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}} In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. The loss of the ''Runnymede'' and the ''Briton'' in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]].<ref>Kingston, W.H.G. (1873) ''Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea''. George Routledge and Sons, London.</ref> In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a [[Cellular Jail|convict establishment]], but the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion led to the British holding a large number of prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates' labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The [[Battle of Aberdeen (Andaman Islands)|Battle of Aberdeen]] was fought on 17 May 1859 between the [[Great Andamanese]] tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman water sports complex as a tribute to the people who died in the battle. Fearful of British intentions and with help from an escaped convict from [[Cellular Jail]], the Great Andamanese attacked the British settlement, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy casualties. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named [[Dudhnath Tewari]] had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe's plans.<ref name="Rapidiq">{{cite web|url=https://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|title=The Rise and Fall of the Great Andamanese|work=Confessions of a Linguist!|date=8 April 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217192515/http://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="One India">{{cite web|url=http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|title=Who are heroes of Battle of Aberdeen?|work=oneindia.com|date=17 May 2007|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=9 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709165627/http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Andaman Sheekha">{{cite web|url=http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|title=Tribute at the Memorial of "Battle of Aberdeen" Today|author=sanjib|work=andamansheekha.com|date=15 May 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710012822/http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1867, the [[Merchant ship|merchantman]] ''Nineveh'' was [[Shipwrecking|wrecked]] on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship's boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a [[Royal Navy|British Royal Navy]] ship.<ref name="Goodheart">{{cite news | url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-28578579_ITM | work=American Scholar | title=The Last Island of the Savages | date=22 September 2000 | access-date=14 June 2009 | archive-date=22 May 2015 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150522060225/https://www.questia.com/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but [[Land reclamation|swamp reclamation]] and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy [[Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo]], on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a [[Pashtun people|Pathan]] from [[Afghanistan]], [[Sher Ali Afridi]]. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and [[Nicobar Islands|Nicobar]], were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}}

[[File:Port Blair 1872 Ross Island Penal HQ.jpg|thumb|right|The Ross Island prison headquarters, 1872]]
[[File:Great Andamanese women - 1876.jpg|thumb|Great Andamanese women and children, with an occasional man 1876]]
From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for [[political prisoner]]s. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, when completed in 1910, included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured {{convert|4.5|by|2.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a single ventilation window {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} above the floor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyagi |first=Ditriksha |date=2024-09-20 |title=The Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands |url=https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a13032-the-cellular-jail-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-2/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=RTF {{!}} Rethinking The Future |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Indians imprisoned here referred to the island and its prison as ''Kala Pani'' ("black water"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |title=History of Andaman Cellular Jail |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209031136/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |archive-date= 9 February 2010 }}</ref> named for [[Kala pani (taboo)|''kala pani'']], the Hindu proscription against traveling across the open sea. Incarceration on the Andamans thus threatened prisoners with the loss of their [[Caste system in India|caste]], and resultant social exclusion;<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bashford |first1=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z72MP1zc4KgC&pg=PA37 |title=Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion |last2=Strange |first2=Carolyn |date=2004-06-04 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-40522-2 |language=en}}</ref> a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title, ''[[Kaalapani (1996 film)|Kaalapani]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |title=Kala Pani (1996) |date=12 April 1996 |publisher=Imdb.com |access-date=14 May 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112003713/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |title=Andaman Islands Political Prisoners |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906201654/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |archive-date= 6 September 2010 }}</ref> Many more died of harsh treatment and the strenuous living and working conditions in this camp.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm |title=Opinion / News Analysis: Hundred years of the Andamans Cellular Jail |date= 21 December 2005|access-date=14 May 2010 |location=Chennai, India| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100511175419/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm| archive-date= 11 May 2010 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] | url-status= dead}}</ref>

The Viper Chain Gang Jail on [[Viper Island]] was reserved for extraordinarily troublesome prisoners and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India's independence movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=13 April 2023 |orig-date=13 April 2023 is from HTTP Last-Modified header; webpage says "Feb 25" with no year specified anywhere |title=Discover the dark history of Viper Island : Where punishment was harsh and retribution was swift |url=https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195141/https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=ExploreAndaman |publisher=Explore Andaman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jail at Viper Island |url=https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195237/https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Mountain Edge Tours and Holidays Pvt. Ltd.}}</ref>

===Japanese occupation===
[[File:Andaman ross is.jpg|thumb|Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island in 2004]]
[[File:Andaman.jpg|thumb|Andaman Islands]]
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were [[Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands|occupied by Japan]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Klemen|last=L|url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/andaman.html|title=The capture of the Andaman Islands, March 1942|date=1999–2000|work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726181150/https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/andaman.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The islands were nominally put under the authority of the [[Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind]] (Provisional Government of Free India) headed by [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], who visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as [[Shahid|Shaheed]] (Martyr) & Swaraj (Self-rule). On 30 December 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Bose, who was allied with the Japanese, first raised the flag of Indian independence. General [[A. D. Loganathan|Loganathan]], of the [[Indian National Army]], was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been annexed to the Provisional Government. According to Werner Gruhl: "Before leaving the islands, the Japanese rounded up and [[Japanese war crimes|executed 750 innocents]]."<ref>Gruhl, Werner (2007) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ow5Wlmu9MPQC&pg=PA102 Imperial Japan's World War Two, 1931–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ow5Wlmu9MPQC&pg=PA102 |date=9 December 2015 }}'', Transaction Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-7658-0352-8}}. p. 102.</ref>

===Post-World War II===
At the close of World War II, the British government announced its intention to shut down the penal settlement. The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island's fisheries, timber, and agricultural resources. In exchange, inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland, or the right to settle on the islands. [[James Howard Williams|J H Williams]], one of the Bombay Burma Company's senior officials, was dispatched to perform a timber survey of the islands using convict labor. He recorded his findings in 'The Spotted Deer' (published in 1957 by [[Rupert Hart-Davis]]).

The penal colony was eventually closed on 15 August 1947 when India [[Indian Independence Act 1947|gained independence]]. It has since served as a museum to the [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/cellular-jail-india-integral-country-fight-freedom-independence-british-colony-andaman-and-nicobar-a7883691.html|title=How India's Cellular Jail was integral in the country's fight for freedom|date=11 August 2017|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=10 November 2019|archive-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110125549/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/cellular-jail-india-integral-country-fight-freedom-independence-british-colony-andaman-and-nicobar-a7883691.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most of the Andaman Islands became part of the [[India|Republic of India]] in 1950 and was declared as a [[union territory]] of the nation in 1956, while the [[Preparis|Preparis Island]] and [[Coco Islands]] became part of the [[Yangon Region]] of [[Myanmar]] in 1948.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Planning Commission of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|title=Andaman and Nicobar Islands Development Report|publisher=Academic Foundation|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7188-652-4|edition=illustrated|series=State Development Report series|access-date=12 March 2011|archive-date=9 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Late 20th Century – 21st century===
====Outside visits====
In April 1998, American photographer John S. Callahan organised the first surfing project in the Andamans, starting from [[Phuket Province|Phuket]] in Thailand with the assistance of Southeast Asia Liveaboards (SEAL), a UK owned dive charter company.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} With a crew of international professional surfers, they crossed the Andaman Sea on the yacht ''Crescent'' and cleared formalities in Port Blair. The group proceeded to Little Andaman Island, where they spent ten days surfing several spots for the first time, including Jarawa Point near Hut Bay and the long right reef point at the southwest tip of the island, named Kumari Point. The resulting article in ''Surfer Magazine'', "Quest for Fire" by journalist Sam George, put the Andaman Islands on the surfing map for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/quest-for-fire |title=Surfer Explores The Andaman Islands |publisher=Surfer Magazine |website=Surfermag.com |date=22 July 2010 |access-date=28 December 2011 |archive-date=19 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819112026/http://www.surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/quest-for-fire/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Footage of the waves of the Andaman Islands also appeared in the film ''Thicker than Water'', shot by [[documentary film]]maker [[Jack Johnson (musician)|Jack Johnson]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} Callahan went on to make several more surfing projects in the Andamans, including a trip to the Nicobar Islands in 1999.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}

In November 2018, [[John Allen Chau]], an American [[missionary]], traveled illegally with the help of local fishermen to the [[North Sentinel Island]] off the Andaman Islands chain group on several occasions, despite a travel ban to the island. He is reported to have been killed.<ref name="cnn.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/25/asia/missionary-john-chau-north-sentinel-island-sentinelese/index.html|title=Indian authorities struggle to retrieve US missionary feared killed on remote island|date=25 November 2018|work=CNN|access-date=25 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=25 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125131356/https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/25/asia/missionary-john-chau-north-sentinel-island-sentinelese/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite some relaxation introduced earlier in 2018 to the stringent visit permit system for the islands, North Sentinel Island was still highly protected from outside contact. Special permission to allow researchers and anthropologists to visit could be sought.<ref name="3tier 2018 toi">{{Cite news|last1=Jain|first1=Bharti |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-national-defied-3-tier-curbs-caution-to-reach-island/articleshow/66758172.cms|title=US National Defied 3-tier Curbs & Caution to Reach Island |date=23 November 2018 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=31 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126001420/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-national-defied-3-tier-curbs-caution-to-reach-island/articleshow/66758172.cms |url-status=live}}</ref> Chau had no special clearance and knew that his visit was illegal.<ref name="3tier 2018 toi"/><ref name="cnn.com"/>

Although a less restrictive system of approval to visit some of the islands now applies, with non-Indian nationals no longer required to obtain pre-approval with a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), foreign visitors must still show their passport at Immigration at Port Blair Airport and Seaport for verification. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, or other foreign nationals whose origin is any of these countries, {{em|are}} still required to obtain a RAP to visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Similarly, citizens of [[Myanmar]] who wish to visit [[Mayabunder]] or [[Diglipur]] must also apply for a RAP. In these cases, the permits must be pre-approved prior to arrival in Port Blair.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andaman and Nicobar Police |title=For Foreign Tourists |url=https://police.andaman.gov.in/index.php/en/2013-10-13-13-21-25/foreigners/for-foreign-tourist.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002164810/http://police.andaman.gov.in/index.php/en/2013-10-13-13-21-25/foreigners/for-foreign-tourist.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 October 2018 |website=police.andaman.gov.in |access-date=30 October 2021 |date=29 June 2018 |quote=... no RAP is required by foreigners to visit these islands, till 31.12.2022 }}</ref>

====Natural disasters====
On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Andaman Islands was devastated by a {{convert|10|m|ft|0|adj=mid|-high}} tsunami following the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]], which is the longest recorded earthquake, lasting for between 500 and 600 seconds.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Guinness Book of World Records 2014|last=Glenday|first=Craig|publisher=The Jim Pattison Group|year=2013|isbn=978-1-908843-15-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/015 015]|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/015}}</ref> Strong oral tradition in the area warned of the importance of moving inland after a quake and is credited with saving many lives.<ref name="folklore">{{cite news |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Subir |title=Tsunami folklore 'saved islanders' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4181855.stm |access-date=1 June 2024 |agency=BBC News |date=20 January 2005}}</ref> In the aftermath, more than 2,000 people were confirmed dead and more than 4,000 children were orphaned or had lost one parent. At least 40,000 residents were rendered homeless and were moved to relief camps.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake and Tsunami of December 26, 2004|year=2007|publisher=ASCE, Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering|location=Reston, VA|isbn=9780784409510|url=http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5511|editor1=Strand, Carl|editor2=Masek, John|access-date=12 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024115815/http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5511|archive-date=24 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 11 August 2009, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands, causing a tsunami warning to go into effect. On 30 March 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands.

==Geography and geology==
The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese [[Chin Hills|Arakan Yoma range]] in the north and of the [[List of islands of Indonesia|Indonesian Archipelago]] in the south. It has 325 islands which cover an area of {{convert|6408|km2|0|abbr=on}},<ref name="Planning Commission Report"/> with the [[Andaman Sea]] to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma.<ref name="olivierblaise" /> [[North Andaman Island]] is {{convert|285|km}} south of Burma, although a few smaller Burmese islands are closer, including the three Coco Islands.

The [[Ten Degree Channel]] separates the Andamans from the [[Nicobar Islands]] to the south. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island ([[Saddle Peak (Andaman Islands)|Saddle Peak]] at {{convert|732|m|abbr=on}}).<ref name="Planning Commission Report">{{cite book|title=Andaman and Nicobar Islands Development Report|series=State Development Report series|author=Planning Commission of India|edition=illustrated|publisher=Academic Foundation|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7188-652-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=9 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|33}}

The geology of the Andaman islands consists essentially of [[Late Jurassic]] to [[Early Eocene]] [[ophiolite]]s and [[sedimentary rock]]s ([[argillite|argillaceous]] and algal [[limestone]]s), deformed by numerous deep [[fault (geology)|faults]] and [[thrust fault|thrust]]s with [[ultramafic]] [[igneous]] [[intrusion (geology)|intrusion]]s.<ref name="tsu"/> There are at least 11 [[mud volcano]]es on the islands.<ref name="tsu">Chakrabarti, P.; Nag, A.; Dutta, S. B.; Dasgupta, S. and Gupta, N. (2006) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5gEBfvCBclUC&pg=PA42 S & T Input: Earthquake and Tsunami Effects...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=5gEBfvCBclUC&pg=PA42 |date=9 December 2015 }}'', page 43. Chapter 5 in S. M. Ramasamy et al. (eds.), ''Geomatics in Tsunami'', New India Publishing. {{ISBN|81-89422-31-6}}</ref> There are two volcanic islands, [[Narcondam Island]] and [[Barren Island (Andaman Islands)|Barren Island]], which have produced [[basalt]] and [[andesite]]. Barren Island is the only active volcano in the [[Indian sub-continent]], with the latest eruption reported in December 2022, leading to the potential for [[geotourism]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.andamantourism.gov.in/capital.php| title=Andaman Tourism – Science Centre| access-date=1 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=260010| title=Global Volcanism Program – Barren Island| access-date=1 May 2023}}</ref>

==Climate==
The climate is typical of tropical islands of similar latitude. It is always warm, but with sea breezes. Rainfall is irregular, usually dry during the north-east monsoons, and very wet during the south-west monsoons.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=956}}

==Flora==
[[File:Shaheed Island, Andamans, Tropical forest.jpg|thumb|Tropical forest, Shaheed Island]]
[[File:Havelock Island, Mangrove trees in tropical sea, Andaman Islands.jpg|thumb|Mangrove trees on the beach, Havelock Island]]

The Middle Andamans harbour mostly moist [[deciduous forests]]. North Andamans is characterised by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest, with [[mangrove]]s on the coast. The rainforests are similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma. Most of the forests are evergreen, but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, [[Middle Andaman Island|Middle Andaman]], [[Baratang]] and parts of [[South Andaman Island]]. The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of [[epiphytic]] vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids.

The Andaman forests are largely unspoiled, despite logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the Indian mainland. There are protected areas on [[Little Andaman Island|Little Andaman]], [[Narcondam Island|Narcondam]], North Andaman and South Andaman, but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife rather than the rainforests.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|id=im0101 |name=Andaman Islands rain forests|access-date=28 December 2011}}</ref> Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs, cats and the elephants of [[Interview Island]] and North Andaman.

Scientists discovered a new species of green algae species in the Andaman archipelago, naming it ''Acetabularia jalakanyakae''. "Jalakanyaka" is a Sanskrit word that means "mermaid".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mermaid-plant-india-andamans-archipelago-b1903845.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817145707/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mermaid-plant-india-andamans-archipelago-b1903845.html |archive-date=2021-08-17 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Indian scientists discover new 'mermaid' plant species in Andamans archipelago|date=17 August 2021|website=The Independent}}</ref>

===Timber===
[[File:Timber.JPG|thumb|upright=1|right|Stilt houses in an Andamanese timber operation]]
Andaman forests contain 200 or more timber producing species of trees, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be commercial. Major commercial timber species are Gurjan (''[[Dipterocarpus]]'' spp.) and [[Padauk]] (''[[Pterocarpus dalbergioides]]''). The following ornamental woods are noted for their pronounced grain formation:
* Marble wood (''[[Diospyros|Diospyros marmorata]]'')
* Padauk (''[[Pterocarpus dalbergioides]]'')
* Silver grey (a special formation of wood in white [[utkarsh]])
* Chooi (''[[Sageraea|Sageraea elliptica]]'')
* Kokko (''[[Albizzia lebbeck]]'')

Padauk wood is sturdier than teak and is widely used for furniture making.

There are [[burr wood]] and [[buttress root]] formations in Andaman Padauk. The largest piece of buttress known from Andaman was a dining table of {{convert|13|x|7|ft|abbr=on}}. The largest piece of burr wood was made into a dining table for eight.

The [[Rudraksha]] (''Elaeocarps sphaericus'') and aromatic Dhoop-resin trees also are found here.

==Fauna==
[[File:The Coral Reef at the Andaman Islands.jpg|thumb|The coral reef at Havelock in Andaman]]

The Andaman Islands are home to a number of animals, many of them endemic. Andaman & Nicobar islands are home to 10% of all Indian fauna species.<ref name="Singh">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/andaman-nicobar-islands-home-to-a-tenth-of-indias-fauna-species/article25592134.ece|title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands: home to a tenth of India's fauna species|last=Singh|first=Shiv Sahay|date=25 November 2018|work=The Hindu|access-date=10 November 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218190850/https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/andaman-nicobar-islands-home-to-a-tenth-of-indias-fauna-species/article25592134.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> The islands are only 0.25% of the country's geographical area, but has 11,009 species, according to a publication by the [[Zoological Survey of India]].<ref name="Singh"/>

===Mammals===
The island's endemic mammals include
* [[Andaman spiny shrew]] (''Crocidura hispida'')
* [[Andaman shrew]] (''Crocidura andamanensis'')
* [[Jenkins's shrew]] (''Crocidura jenkinsi'')
* [[Andaman horseshoe bat]] (''Rhinolophus cognatus'')
* [[Andaman rat]] (''Rattus stoicus'')

The [[banded pig]] (''Sus scrofa vittatus''), also known as the Andaman wild boar and once thought to be an endemic subspecies,<ref name="SrinivasuluSrinivasulu2012">{{Cite book | title = South Asian Mammals: Their Diversity, Distribution, and Status | last1 = Srinivasulu | first1 = C. | last2 = Srinivasulu | first2 = B. | publisher = Springer | year = 2012 | page = 353 | isbn = 9781461434498}}</ref> is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (Sch I). The [[spotted deer]] (''Axis axis''), the [[Indian muntjac]] (''Muntiacus muntjak'') and the [[sambar deer|sambar]] (''Rusa unicolor'') were all introduced to the Andaman islands, though the sambar did not survive.

[[Interview Island]] (the largest wildlife sanctuary in the territory) in Middle Andaman holds a population of feral [[Asian elephant|elephants]], which were brought in for forest work by a timber company and released when the company went bankrupt. This population has been subject to research studies.

===Birds===
Endemic or near endemic birds include
* ''[[Spilornis elgini]]'', a serpent-eagle
* ''[[Rallina canningi]]'', a crake (endemic; data-deficient per IUCN 2000)
* ''[[Columba palumboides]]'', a wood-pigeon
* ''[[Macropygia rufipennis]]'', a cuckoo dove
* ''[[Centropus andamanensis]]'', a subspecies of brown coucal (endemic)
* ''[[Otus balli]]'', a scops owl
* ''[[Ninox affinis]]'', a hawk-owl
* ''[[Rhyticeros narcondami]]'', the Narcondam hornbill
* ''[[Dryocopus hodgei]]'', a woodpecker
* ''[[Dicrurus andamanensis]]'', a drongo
* ''[[Dendrocitta bayleyii]]'', a treepie
* ''[[Sturnus erythropygius]]'', the white-headed starling
* ''[[Collocalia affinis]]'', the plume-toed swiftlet
* ''[[Aerodramus fuciphagus]]'', the edible-nest swiftlet
The islands' many [[cave]]s, such as those at [[Chalis Ek Caves|Chalis Ek]] are nesting grounds for the edible-nest [[swiftlet]], whose nests are prized in China for [[bird's nest soup]].<ref name="soup">Sankaran, R. (1998), ''[http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_birds8.pdf The impact of nest collection on the Edible-nest Swiftlet in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704194845/http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_birds8.pdf |date=4 July 2010 }}''. Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India.</ref>

===Reptiles and amphibians===
The islands also have a number of endemic [[reptile]]s, [[toad]]s and [[frog]]s, such as the [[Andaman cobra]] (''Naja sagittifera''), South Andaman krait (''[[Bungarus andamanensis]]'') and Andaman water monitor (''Varanus salvator andamanensis'').

There is a sanctuary {{convert|45|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} from [[Havelock Island]] for [[saltwater crocodile]]s. Over the past 25 years there have been 24 crocodile attacks with four fatalities, including the death of American tourist Lauren Failla. The government has been criticised for failing to inform tourists of the crocodile sanctuary and danger, while simultaneously promoting tourism.<ref>{{cite news|author=Sacks, Ethan|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/nj-woman-killed-crocodile-attack-snorkeling-indian-coast-article-1.445025|title=NJ woman killed by crocodile attack while snorkeling off Indian coast|newspaper=NY Daily News|date=6 May 2010|access-date=26 April 2017|archive-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426151615/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/nj-woman-killed-crocodile-attack-snorkeling-indian-coast-article-1.445025|url-status=live}}</ref> Crocodiles are not only found within the sanctuary, but throughout the island chain in varying densities. They are habitat restricted, so the population is stable but not large. Populations occur throughout available mangrove habitat on all major islands, including a few creeks on Havelock. The species uses the ocean as a means of travel between different rivers and estuaries, thus they are not as commonly observed in open ocean. It is best to avoid swimming near mangrove areas or the mouths of creeks; swimming in the open ocean should be safe, but it is best to have a spotter around.

==Demographics==
[[File:The von Eickstedts in the Andamans 1926.jpg|thumb|The von Eickstedts in the Andamans 1926]]
[[File:Andamanese Onge.png|thumb|An Andamanese family on the [[Great Andaman]] island in 2006]]
{{As of|2011}}, the population of the Andaman was 343,125,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/ut_andaman.php |access-date=3 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619045535/http://www.india.gov.in/knowindia/ut_andaman.php|publisher=india.gov.in|title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands |archive-date=19 June 2010 }}</ref> having grown from 50,000 in 1960. The bulk of the population originates from immigrants who came to the island since the colonial times, mainly of [[Bengali people|Bengali]], [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Telugu people|Telugu]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/telugu-culture-flourishing-in-andamans/article6136317.ece | title='Telugu culture flourishing in Andamans' | work=The Hindu | date=21 June 2014 }}</ref> [[Tamil people|Tamil]], [[Malayalam people|Malayalam]] backgrounds.<ref name="distadmin">{{cite web|url=http://andamandt.nic.in/profile.htm |title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands at a glance |publisher=Andamandt.nic.in |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213201339/http://andamandt.nic.in/profile.htm |archive-date=13 December 2011 }}</ref>
[[File:Jarwa Tribes Andaman.jpg|thumb|left|Tribes of Andaman]]

A small minority of the population are the [[Andamanese people|Andamanese]] — the [[indigenous peoples|aboriginal inhabitants]] ([[adivasi]]) of the islands. When they first came into sustained contact with outside groups in the 1850s, there were an estimated 7,000 Andamanese, divided into the [[Great Andamanese]], [[Jarawa (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]], [[Jangil]] (or ''Rutland Jarawa''), [[Onge people|Onge]], and the [[Sentinelese people|Sentinelese]]. The Great Andamanese formed 10 tribes of 5,000 people total. As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary [[indentured labour]]ers, later purposely recruited farmers), the Andamanese suffered a population decline due to the introduction of outside [[infectious diseases]], land encroachment from settlers and conflict.

The Andaman Islands are home to the [[Sentinelese people]], an [[uncontacted people|uncontacted tribe]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Everything We Know About The Isolated Sentinelese People Of North Sentinel Island |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/11/30/everything-we-know-about-the-isolated-sentinelese-people-of-north-sentinel-island/ |work=Forbes |date=30 November 2018}}</ref>

Due to their isolated island location, the Andaman people have mostly avoided contact with the outside world. Their languages are a great reflection of this, with distinct linguistics that have strong [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological features]] – root words, prefix, suffixes – with very little relation to surrounding geographic regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Endicott |first1=Phillip |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Stringer |first3=Chris |last4=Lalueza-Fox |first4=Carles |last5=Willerslev |first5=Eske |last6=Hansen |first6=Anders J. |last7=Cooper |first7=Alan |date=January 2003 |title=The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/345487 |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=178–184 |doi=10.1086/345487 |pmid=12478481 |issn=0002-9297|pmc=378623 }}</ref>  

Figures from the end of the 20th century estimate there remain only approximately 400–450 ethnic Andamanese still on the island, and as few as 50 speakers The Jangil are extinct. Most of the Great Andamanese tribes are extinct, and the survivors, now just 52, speak mostly [[Hindi]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malekar |first=Anosh |date=April 2010 |title=The case for a linguistic survey |work=InfoChange News & Features |publication-place=India |url=http://infochangeindia.org/Media/Languages-of-India/The-case-for-a-linguistic-survey.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927215058/http://infochangeindia.org/Media/Languages-of-India/The-case-for-a-linguistic-survey.html |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> The Onge are reduced to less than 100 people. Only the Jarawa and Sentinelese still maintain a steadfast independence and refuse most attempts at contact; their numbers are uncertain but estimated to be in the low hundreds.

The indigenous languages are collectively referred to as the [[Andamanese languages]], but they make up at least two independent families, and the dozen or so attested languages are either extinct or endangered.

==Religion==
Most of the tribal people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a religion that can be described as a form of [[monotheism|monotheistic]] [[animism]]. The tribal people of these islands believe that [[Puluga]] is the only deity and is responsible for everything happening on Earth.<ref>{{cite book|author=Radcliffe-Brown, A. R.|title=The Andaman Islanders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|date=14 November 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-62556-3|page=161|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426152135/https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}</ref> The faith of the Andamanese teaches that Puluga resides on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' [[Saddle Peak (Andaman Islands)|Saddle Peak]]. People try to avoid any action that might displease Puluga. People belonging to this religion believe in the presence of souls, ghosts, and spirits. They put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They let dreams decide different courses of action in their lives.<ref>{{Cite web|title = People of Andaman and Nicobar Islands|url = http://www.webindia123.com/territories/andaman/people/intro.htm|website = Webindia123.com|access-date = 31 January 2016|archive-date = 1 June 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160601155012/http://www.webindia123.com/Territories/ANDAMAN/People/intro.htm|url-status = live}}</ref>

Andamanese mythology held that human males emerged from split bamboo, whereas women were fashioned from clay.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology. 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 [1906]. p. 192</ref> One version found by [[Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown]] held that the first man died and went to heaven, a pleasurable world, but this blissful period ended due to breaking a food taboo, specifically eating the forbidden vegetables in the Puluga's garden.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology. 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 [1906]. p. 220</ref> Thus catastrophe ensued, and eventually the people grew overpopulated and didn't follow Puluga's laws. Hence, there was a [[Great Flood]] that left four survivors, who lost their fire.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology. 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 [1906]. p. 216</ref><ref>Witzel, Michael E.J. (2012). The Origin of The World's Mythologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 309-312</ref>

Other religions practiced in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are, in order of size, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, [[Sikhism]], Buddhism, [[Jainism]] and [[Baháʼí Faith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|title=Population by religious communities|publisher=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=21 September 2016|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106014425/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bahai.org/national-communities/andaman-and-nicobar-islands|title=Baháʼí Community of Andaman and Nicobar Islands|last=Baháʼí|website=Baháʼí Community|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=17 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817163632/http://www.bahai.org/national-communities/andaman-and-nicobar-islands|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Government==
[[File:Aberdeen Bazar, Port Blair.JPG|thumb|The capital city of the Andaman Islands, Port Blair]]
[[Port Blair]] is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the [[Andaman district]] (the Nicobar Islands were separated and established as the new [[Nicobar district]] in 1974).

==Transportation==
The only commercial airport is [[Veer Savarkar International Airport]] in Port Blair. The airport is under the control of the [[Indian Navy]]. Prior to 2016 only daylight operations were allowed; since 2016 night flights have also operated.<ref>{{cite news|editor1=Roy, Sanjib Kumar|editor2=Sheekha, Andaman|title=Maiden night flight arrives in Isles|url=http://www.andamansheekha.com/2016/01/21/maiden-night-flight-arrives-in-isles-goair-flight-with-155-tourists-lands-at-vsi-airport-to-operate-chartered-flight-between-bengaluru-port-blair/|access-date=21 January 2016|work=Andaman Sheekha|date=21 January 2016|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002092304/http://www.andamansheekha.com/2016/01/21/maiden-night-flight-arrives-in-isles-goair-flight-with-155-tourists-lands-at-vsi-airport-to-operate-chartered-flight-between-bengaluru-port-blair/|url-status=live}}</ref> A small airstrip, about {{convert|1000|m|ft}} long, is located near the eastern shore of North Andaman near [[Diglipur]].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

There are also ships from Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

==Cultural references==

=== Literature ===
The islands are prominently featured in [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s [[Sherlock Holmes]] 1890 mystery ''[[The Sign of the Four]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LitCharts |url=https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-sign-of-the-four/summary |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=LitCharts |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chatterjee |first=Arup K. |journal=Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures |title=The Science of the Andamans and the Sign of the Four: The distorted racial hierarchy of British imperial anthropology |date=11 February 2019|volume=14 |issue=2 |doi=10.21463/SHIMA.14.2.14 |s2cid=224924041 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The magistrate in [[Lady Gregory]]'s play ''[[Spreading the News]]'' had formerly served in the islands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=Lady |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RkE2AQAAMAAJ |title=Spreading the News |date=1909 |publisher=Putnam |language=en}}</ref>

[[M. M. Kaye]]'s 1985 novel ''Death in the Andamans''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaye |first=M. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IADkCgAAQBAJ |title=Death in the Andamans |date=2015-12-01 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-250-08926-7 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Marianne Wiggins]]' 1989 novel ''John Dollar'' are set in the islands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiggins |first=Marianne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LC7HfgbTFaQC |title=John Dollar |date=1990 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-091655-8 |language=en}}</ref> The latter begins with an expedition from Burma to celebrate King George's birthday, but turns into a grim survival story after an earthquake and tsunami.

A principal character in the novel ''[[Six Suspects (novel)|Six Suspects]]'' by [[Vikas Swarup]] is from the Andaman Islands.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sawhney |first=Hirsh |date=2008-10-17 |title=Delhi underbelly |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/18/vikas-swarup |access-date=2025-02-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |quote="In the end, Vicky Rai's murder is pinned on an innocent tribesman from the Andaman Islands, and a stream of encores await. All fail to pack a punch. Swarup has attempted an ambitious, complex project that required more cooking time, fewer plot lines and liberation from the desire to write a "great Indian novel"."}}</ref> The main protagonist of [[William Boyd (writer)|William Boyd's]] 2018 novel ''Love is Blind'', spends time in the Andaman Islands at the turn of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite news |title=William Boyd's new novel is a moreish romp |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/09/27/william-boyds-new-novel-is-a-moreish-romp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210005058/https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/09/27/william-boyds-new-novel-is-a-moreish-romp |archive-date=2018-12-10 |access-date=2025-02-15 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> The Andaman Islands in the period before, during and just after the Second World War are the setting for Uzma Aslan Khan's ''The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Becker |first=Alida |date=2022-12-04 |title=The Best Historical Fiction of 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/books/review/the-best-historical-fiction-of-2022.html |access-date=2025-02-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote="Set in a British penal colony in the remote Andaman Islands just before and during World War II, Uzma Aslam Khan’s THE MIRACULOUS TRUE HISTORY OF NOMI ALI is a suspenseful, thought-provoking challenge to simple assumptions about enemies and friends, loyalty and betrayal. A young girl called Nomi Ali, the daughter of a prisoner whose entire family must share his incarceration, is only one of the many characters whose histories are entangled here."}}</ref> 

=== Film and television ===
[[Priyadarshan]]'s 1996 film ''[[Kaalapani]]'' (Malayalam; ''[[Sirai Chaalai]]'' in Tamil) depicts the Indian freedom struggle and the lives of prisoners in the [[Cellular Jail]] in Port Blair.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995-06-15 |title=Kaala Paani, a Malayalam film banks on lavish budget, freedom movement and multilingual cast |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19950615-kaala-paani-a-malayalam-film-banks-on-lavish-budget-freedom-movement-and-multilingual-cast-806763-1995-06-14 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>

In 2023, Andaman islands were featured in a Netflix series named Kaala Paani based on a fictional disease outbreak in 2027.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitra |first=Shilajit |date=2023-10-18 |title='Kaala Paani' series review: Ambitious survival drama reaches the shore |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kaala-paani-series-review-ambitious-survival-drama-reaches-the-shore/article67433338.ece |access-date=2025-02-15 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==See also==
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description [[WP:SEEALSO]] -->
* [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
* [[List of endemic birds of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
* [[List of trees of the Andaman Islands]]
* [[Lists of islands]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Andaman Islands|volume=1|pages=955–958}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034922/http://www.andamantravelagent.com/about-andaman History & Culture. The Andaman Islands with destination quide]
* {{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |date= 2000 |title= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |access-date= 30 March 2021 |archive-date= 26 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |url-status= dead }}
* {{cite book|author=India Home Dept|title=The Andaman Islands: With Notes on Barren Island|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0xFAAAAYAAJ|year=1859|publisher=C.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press}}
* {{cite book|author=Suresh Vaidya|title=Islands of the Marigold Sun|year=1960|publisher=Robert Hale}}
* {{cite book|author=Raleigh Trevelyan|author-link=Raleigh Trevelyan|title=The Golden Oriole: Childhood, Family and Friends in India|year=1987|publisher=Secker & Warburg}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181213232827/http://www.and.nic.in/ Official Andaman and Nicobar Tourism Website]
* {{citation|last=Sorenson|first=E. Richard|title=Sensuality and Consciousness:Psychosexual Transformation in the Eastern Andaman|journal=Anthropology of Consciousness|volume=4|issue=4|year=1993|doi=10.1525/ac.1993.4.4.1|pages=1–9}}
* {{citation|last=Sen|first=Satadru|title=Savage Bodies, Civilized Pleasures: M. V. Portman and the Andamanese|journal=American Ethnologist|volume=36|issue=2|year=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2009.01140.x |pages=364–379}}

{{Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}
{{ecoregions of India}}
{{Portal bar|Islands|India}}

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[[Category:Andaman and Nicobar Islands|Andaman]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of India]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Maritime Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of India]]
[[Category:Pleistocene volcanoes]]
[[Category:Pleistocene Asia]]
[[Category:Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples]]