The Basics
Andaman & Nicobar at a Glance
A far-flung chain of tropical islands in the Bay of Bengal — closer to Myanmar and Indonesia than to the Indian mainland, and administered directly from the centre.
- Sri Vijaya Puram The capital — the former Port Blair, renamed in 2024 after the islands' Chola-era maritime past
- A UT A Union Territory administered by a Lieutenant Governor — with no legislative assembly
- 8,249 km² Total area, spread thinly across the sea over a ~770 km island arc
- ~836 islands Islands & islets (an older count gives ~572); only about 38 are inhabited
- 3 districts North & Middle Andaman, South Andaman and Nicobar
- Two groups The Andaman and the Nicobar islands, divided by the Ten Degree Channel
- Hindi & English Official languages; Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam & Nicobarese are widely spoken
- Far out at sea ~1,200–1,400 km from Chennai & Kolkata; Indira Point, the southernmost tip of India, lies ~150 km from Indonesia
- Barren Island India's only confirmed active volcano, in the Andaman Sea
- Saddle Peak At ~732 m in North Andaman, the highest point of the islands
- 1 MP 1 Lok Sabha seat; as a UT without a legislature, it has no Rajya Sabha seat
People
Population & Society
A small, mostly-settler population drawn from every corner of India, alongside the islands' indigenous peoples — sparse, highly literate, and shaped by migration. Census 2011 is the last full count.
- 3.81 lakh Population, 2011 (380,581) — among the smallest UTs; only Lakshadweep is smaller
- 6.9% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — low; the 2004 tsunami slowed it sharply
- 46 /km² Population density, 2011 — very low, much of the land is forest
- 876 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011 — low, reflecting a settler/migrant history
- 86.6% Literacy rate, 2011 — well above the national average
- ~36% Urbanisation, 2011 — most live around Port Blair; the Nicobars are wholly rural
- A settler mix Mostly mainland settlers & their descendants — Bengali (incl. Partition refugees), Tamil, Telugu, Hindi & Malayalam speakers, and "Local Borns"
- Faith Hindu ~69%, Christian ~21% (largely the Nicobarese), Muslim ~9% (2011)
- 7.5% ST Scheduled Tribes ~7.5% — the Nicobarese are by far the largest; there are no Scheduled Castes
Economy
Tourism, Sea & the State
A small island economy run largely on government, tourism and fishing — heavily reliant on the mainland and the centre, and the focus of a giant new development project.
- ~₹12,500 cr GSDP, around 2023-24 (current prices) — one of India's smallest economies
- ~₹2.6 lakh Per-capita income (2022-23) — above the national average
- The state Government administration dominates organised employment; services lead the economy, with very little industry
- Centre-funded As a UT without a legislature, it depends heavily on central grants and on the mainland for supplies
The engines of the economy
- Tourism Over 7 lakh visitors a year — the beaches, the diving and the Cellular Jail — a fast-growing pillar
- Fisheries A large marine fishery (tuna & other fish) — marine products are the bulk of the islands' small exports
- Plantations Coconut & arecanut (chiefly in the Nicobars), with rice, spices & rubber; logging of natural forest was banned for conservation in 2001
- Great Nicobar A ~₹72,000-crore plan for a transshipment port, airport & township — strategic, but contested on environmental & tribal grounds
- Economic figures for so small and remote a UT are limited; the GSDP here is an approximate recent estimate (2023-24). Per-capita income is from the 2022-23 estimates. Treat both as indicative.
Peoples & Wild Nature
Ancient Peoples, Living Forests
Home to six indigenous peoples — among the world's oldest and most isolated — and to a tropical biodiversity hotspot of rainforest, coral and rare endemic life.
The indigenous peoples
- Six peoples The Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa & Sentinelese of the Andamans, and the Nicobarese & Shompen of the Nicobars
- Among the oldest The Andamanese are among the world's oldest surviving peoples, living in deep isolation for tens of thousands of years
- The Sentinelese The people of North Sentinel remain by choice uncontacted; the island is legally protected, with entry barred to shield them from disease and harm
- Protected Five of the six are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups; the Nicobarese are the largest community, and tribal reserves safeguard the others
A biodiversity hotspot
- High endemism Tropical rainforests with over a thousand endemic animal species — life found nowhere else on Earth
- Rare birds The Narcondam hornbill lives on a single small island; the Nicobar megapode and the Andaman wood pigeon (the state bird) are island endemics
- Reefs & dugongs Coral reefs, mangroves, saltwater crocodiles and the dugong — the UT's gentle sea-cow state animal
- Great Nicobar A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve; with the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park at Wandoor and Saddle Peak's rainforest
Administrative
The Three Districts
The islands form three districts, stacked down the Bay of Bengal — North & Middle Andaman, South Andaman (with the capital), and the Nicobar group across the Ten Degree Channel. Pick a district on the interactive map to highlight it above.
The map and this list share the same data. The gap on the map between South Andaman and Nicobar is the Ten Degree Channel; the Nicobar group is largely protected and off-limits to visitors.
What Makes the Islands Unique
Freedom, Reefs & the Frontier
A place of pilgrimage for the freedom struggle, India's premier dive destination, a living biodiversity hotspot and the nation's strategic eastern frontier.
- The Cellular Jail The "Kala Pani" prison — now a national memorial to the freedom fighters who were exiled here
- Diving capital India's premier scuba-diving & snorkelling destination, with some of its finest coral reefs
- Radhanagar The beach on Swaraj Dweep rated by TIME in 2004 and widely called Asia's best
- Living heritage Among the world's oldest human cultures, and a rainforest hotspot of rare endemic life
- Eastern frontier India's strategic outpost astride the Bay of Bengal, near the Malacca Strait shipping lane
- Natural wonders Barren Island, India's only active volcano, and Indira Point, the southernmost tip of the country
Culture & Community
A Mini-India by the Sea
A meeting of all India's cultures among the settlers, the distinct living traditions of the Nicobarese, and a renaming of the islands to honour the freedom struggle.
- Mini-India Bengali, Tamil, Telugu & Malayali settlers celebrate every festival together — Durga Puja, Pongal, Onam & more
- Island festival The ten-day Island Tourism Festival each January in Port Blair showcases the territory's mixed culture
- Nicobarese life A distinct living culture — the ossuary "pig feast", canoe-making, the dome-roofed Nicobari hut and carved hentakoi figures
- The renamings In 2018, Havelock, Neil & Ross islands became Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep & Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep
- Cuisine Seafood-led, blending Bengali, South Indian & coastal flavours from the settler communities
- Tricolour soil Port Blair, where Netaji first raised the flag in 1943 — a place woven into the freedom story
Places to Visit
Beaches, Reefs & Ruins
The memorial of the Cellular Jail, the famous beaches and reefs of Swaraj Dweep, and the jungle-clad ruins of the old British capital.
- Cellular Jail The national memorial in Port Blair, with its moving evening light-and-sound show on the freedom struggle
- Radhanagar Beach The celebrated white-sand beach on Swaraj Dweep (Havelock) — a Blue Flag beach
- Swaraj & Shaheed Swaraj Dweep (Havelock) & Shaheed Dweep (Neil) — the diving islands, with Elephant Beach's reefs
- Ross Island Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep — the atmospheric ruins of the former British headquarters
- Wandoor The Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, for corals & glass-bottom boats; sunset at Chidiya Tapu
- Baratang Limestone caves and a rare mud volcano, reached through the mangrove creeks
- Port Blair Corbyn's Cove beach, the marine & anthropological museums, and Mount Harriet (Mount Manipur)
- Permits apart Many islands are open to visitors, but the tribal reserves and the whole Nicobar group are protected and off-limits
Modern Andaman & Nicobar
Cable, Command & a Mega-Port
An undersea cable that finally brought broadband, India's only joint military command, and a vast new project rising on Great Nicobar.
- Undersea cable The Chennai–Andaman (CANI) submarine optical-fibre cable, opened in 2020, finally brought high-speed internet to the islands
- Tri-service command Port Blair hosts the Andaman & Nicobar Command — India's first and only joint Army-Navy-Air Force command (2001)
- Great Nicobar port A planned international transshipment port at Galathea Bay, near the Malacca Strait — under development, not yet operational
- Healthcare GB Pant Hospital at Port Blair anchors island healthcare; serious cases are often flown to the mainland
- Green power Long reliant on diesel, the islands are now turning to solar and battery storage for cleaner power
- A fragile frontier Remoteness, dependence on the mainland and the lasting memory of the 2004 tsunami shape life on the islands
Air, Sea & Road
A Lifeline Across the Sea
Reached only by air or a multi-day sea voyage, the islands run on flights to the mainland, passenger ships and a chain of inter-island ferries.
- The airport Veer Savarkar International Airport at Port Blair — its new terminal opened in 2023 — is the lifeline air link to Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi & Bengaluru
- Ships Passenger ships sail to Chennai, Kolkata & Visakhapatnam — a voyage of about three to four days
- Inter-island ferries Government & private ferries link Port Blair to Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep & the other inhabited islands
- The Trunk Road The Andaman Trunk Road runs north from Port Blair to Diglipur, with vehicle ferries — passing through the Jarawa reserve under strict rules
- Remoteness Port Blair lies ~1,200–1,400 km from the mainland — the islands depend on it for most goods and fuel
- New gateways A greenfield international airport is planned on Great Nicobar as part of the mega- project
People & Heritage
Patriots & First Peoples
The freedom fighters of the Kala Pani, the leader who first raised the flag here, and the islands' first peoples — those whose story is the islands' story.
- Subhas Chandra Bose Netaji hoisted the Indian flag at Port Blair on 30 December 1943 — the islands' Azad Hind moment
- The Kala Pani prisoners V. D. Savarkar, Batukeshwar Dutt and the many revolutionaries exiled to the Cellular Jail
- The Andamanese The islands' first peoples — among the world's oldest cultures, here for tens of thousands of years
- The Nicobarese The largest indigenous community, cultivators & seafarers of the Nicobar islands
- The settlers The pan-Indian communities — Bengali refugees, Tamils, Telugus & more — who built modern island society
- Archibald Blair The British naval surveyor of 1789 for whom Port Blair was named
Through the Ages
A Short History of the Islands
From ancient island peoples and a Chola sea-link to the penal colony, the freedom struggle and a territory of its own — a few milestones that shaped the islands.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Prehistory | The indigenous Andamanese peoples settle the islands, in deep isolation |
| c. 1025–1050 | The Chola empire links the islands to its maritime expeditions; named "Ma-Nakkavaram" |
| 1789 | The first British settlement is attempted under Lt. Archibald Blair |
| 1858 | A penal colony is re-established at Port Blair after the 1857 Revolt — the "Kala Pani" |
| 1906 | The Cellular Jail is completed, with 698 solitary cells |
| 1942–1945 | The islands are under Japanese occupation in the Second World War |
| 30 Dec 1943 | Subhas Chandra Bose hoists the Indian flag at Port Blair, under Azad Hind |
| 1947 | The islands become part of independent India |
| 1 Nov 1956 | Organised as a Union Territory under the States Reorganisation Act |
| 26 Dec 2004 | The Indian Ocean tsunami devastates the islands, hitting the Nicobars hardest |
| 2018 | Havelock, Neil & Ross islands are renamed Swaraj, Shaheed & Netaji Bose Dweep |
| 2024 | Port Blair is renamed Sri Vijaya Puram |