| Nicobar
District
| Total Population : 42,068 |
| Total literate : 26,535 |
| Rural : 42,068 |
Urban : -- |
| Male : 22,653 |
Female : 19,415 |
| Area : 1,841 Sq.Kms |
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Brief
About Nicobar
The
Nicobar Islands are situated in the South-east of
the Bay of Bengal between 6 degree – 10 degree N latitude
and between 92 degree- 94 degree E longitude. There
are altogether 22 large and small islands, out of
which only twelve have inhabitants.
The
most northerly island of the group is Car Nicobar,
which is 143 miles from Port Blair and the ten degree
channel about 75 miles separate in from Little Andaman.
Chowra, Teressa, Bompoka, Katchal, Kamorta, Nancowry
and Trinket form the central group of Nicobar islands
; while in the southern group are Pulo Milo, Little
Nicobar, Kondul, Great Nicobar and so on. The extreme
southern point of Great Nicobar, previously known
as Pygmalion Point and now Indira Point, is about
91 geographical miles from Pulo Brass of Achin Head
of Sumatra. The uninhabited islands in the central
and southern group are Batti Malv, Tileangchong and
Meroe , Trak, Treis, Menchal and Kabra respectively.
The Nicobars stretch over 36 miles, with an aggregate
of 635 sq. miles.
ORIGIN
OF NAME
Falling
between the sea route from South India / Sri Lanka
to South East Asia and vice-vers, the voyagers referred
it as “land of the nake” i.e. Nakkavar which is perhaps
the direct Predecessor of the current name “Nicobar’.
The medieval Arabic name ‘Lankhabatus’ is a mere mistranscription
and misapprehension of “Nankakar or Nakkavar”. Lord
Ram, the hero of epic ‘Ramayana’ is meant to have
passed through the Islands during his period of exile
)Mathur: 1967). Somdev’s ‘Kathasaritsagar’ (11th century)
indicates it as ‘Narikel Dweep’. The islands have
also been mentioned in the accounts of travellers
like Fahien, (6th century); I-T’sing (early 7th century);
Ptolemy (2nd century); Marco Polo (13th century) and
Friar Oderic (early 14th century). The islands were
known in China as Lo-Jan Kuo (land of the naked people)
according to the writings of I-T’Sing. An inscription
dated (1059 AD) of the Chola King of Tanjore indicates
that these islands were used as base shelter station
for waging war and keeping control over South East
Asia. The geographical names for the different islands
have all obscure, complicated and interesting histories,
whereas, each island has a native name too.
PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS
Car
Nicobar is remarkably flat except for some cliffs
in the north and small hilly areas in the interior.
It is bordered by a silvery beach and areas of flat
ground consisting of coraline diluvium.
Nancowry
and Kamorta, have a hilly terrain covered with grass,
forming undulating meadows. Empress Peak is about
1.420 ft. high and is the highest in Kamorta. The
Nancowry harbour, with two entrances towards the east
and west, is one of the finest and safest harbours
in the world. Katchal is one of the largest islands
in the central group. It is abut 61 sq. miles in area.
It is slightly hilly in the centre but has a remarkable
flat area, like Car Nicobar. Katchal has the most
suitable soil for paddy cultivation. Trinket is another
small flat island. It is located at the eastern entrance
to Nancowry harbour. Chowra is almost flat, except
for a hill which is located at its southern tip. Like
Car Nicobar it has no safe berthing and the coral
formation around the island is reported to be a great
impediment to anchoring vessels.
Teressa
and Bompoka are also hilly. The former has a considerable
flat area, while the latter has a few flat spaces
around the western coast. Tillangchong has hills of
elevations above 1,000 ft.
Great
Nicobar is the southernmost land mass of the Nicobar
group of Islands. Most of this island is hilly and
undulating. The main hill range runs from north to
south. Mount Thullier which is about 2,105 ft high
is the highest peak. Galathea, Alexandra and Dagmar
are the major rivers. Kondul and Little Nicobar are
also hilly and undulating.
As
the Nicobars apparently lie directly in the local
line of greatest weakness, severe earthquakes are
to be expected, and have occurred many times. Stocks
of great violence were recorded in 1847, 1881 (with
tidal waves), and many times during 20th century.
The tidal waves caused by the explosion of Krakatoa
in the Straits of Sunda in 1883, were severely felt.
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