Andaman Group of Islands
The Andaman group of islands is principally divided into the Great Andaman Island (s) and the Little Andaman Island.
"Great Andamans" is a hypothetical term given to a group of islands consisting primarily of North Andaman, Middle Andaman, South Andaman,
Baratang and Rutland Island. These islands even though separated by narrow creeks appear as one big land and thats why it is termed as "Great Andamans".
There are 3 major Islands in Andaman Group:
South Andaman
(Port Blairis situated in this Island).Middle Andaman
(Rangat and Mayabunder towns are situated in this Island).North Andaman
(Diglipur is situated in this Island)Relative locations of other major Islands are as follows :
To the North - Landfall Island
To the North-East - Narcondam Island
To the East - Barren Island / 'Ritchie's Archipelago' (described in a section below)
To the South - Rutland island / Cinque Island
To the South-West - Labyrinth group of island.
To the To the West - North Sentinel / South Sentinel Island / Interview Island.
Baratang Island is situated between Middle and South Andaman Islands.
Little Andaman Island is about 55 km south of South Andaman across the Duncan Passage.
Of the land area of 6,408 km2 of the Andaman Islands, forests occupy about 5,629 km2, constituting reserve and protected forests, of which approximately 2,118 Km2 is under the tribal reserve. The elevation of the Andamans ranges from 0-732 m, with Saddle Peak in North Andaman Island being the highest.
Ritchie's Archipelago :
The archipelago is named after an 18th century British marine surveyor, John RitchieHavelock Island- 113.93 km2
Henry Lawrence Island - 55 km2
John Lawrence Island - 41.98 km2
Peel Island - 23 km2
Wilson Island - 14 km2
Outram Island - 13 km2
Neil Island - 18.90 km2
Nicholson Island - 1.8 km2
Inglis Island - 1.4 km2
Hugh Rose Island - 0.6 km2
Middle Button Island - 0.4 km2
North Button Island - 0.25 km2
South Button Island - 0.1 km2
Source - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie's_Archipelago)
GEO-Political details of the Andaman Island Group
Districts of Andaman
the Andaman group of islands are divided into two districts: 1. South Andaman 2. North & Middle Andaman
Till 18-Aug-2006, North, Middle and South Andaman were a single unified District - "Andaman". Little Andaman is covered under South Andaman District. The Capital City of Andaman and Nicobar - "Port Blair" is situated in South Andaman District.
There are total 199 revenue* villages in both the Districts Andaman. Out of which 100 village are in North and Middle Andaman and remaining 99 in South Andamans.
[ Revenue village is a village which has definite surveyed boundaries. The revenue village may comprise several hamlets but the entire village will be treated as one unit for presentation of the data. In the non-surveyed areas like settlements within the forest areas, each habitation area with locally recognized boundaries within each forest range officer's area will be treated as a separate village. A village with no population is to be termed as Bechirag or 'deserted' or 'uninhabited'.] (Source : http://7thsurvey.ncert.nic.in/glossary.htm)
Great Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) passes from the capital Port Blair to Diglipur of the North Andaman through numerous creeks, deep and dense forests and Jarawa Tribal settlement.
Population :
Bengali Settlers : During 1949-1952, 450 refugee families from east Pakistan (Bangladesh) were settled in South Andaman on 3000 acres of land.