Andaman district general information
Andaman district was a district of India, one of three districts in the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Andaman Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal, bordering with the Andaman Sea). The district government is headed by a Deputy Commissioner, who in turn reports into the Lt. Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The capital of the district is the township of Port Blair, which is also the main town and capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT. The district was severely affected by the tsunami that was caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which led to many deaths and damaged infrastructure.
History
The British Government allotted house sites and the agricultural lands to the convicts under the provisions of Section 5 of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Regulation 1926. The allotment of Agriculture land was made to any person to any land either by way of "Grant" or by issuing licenses on conditions laid down therein. The Grant for the cultivation of long lived crops such as coconut, coffee, rubber and the like for a period of thirty years and renewed for further period on the previous sanction of the Central Government. License for Agricultural Land as a Non-occupancy tenant was issued to any person for paddy cultivation, horticulture and short lived crops. These Non-occupancy tenants thereafter brought under Occupancy Tenants, after cultivating five years continuously and had not contravened any provisions laid down in the license while allotment was made.
Geography
There are approximately 550 islands which make up the Andaman district, 26 of which are inhabited. The total population of Andaman district as per 2001 Census of India figures was 314,084. The district has a total area of some 8,249 km². Approximately 90% of the islands are forested or uncultivated; urban area is only 16.6 km².
Altitude is varies from Sea level to 732 metres (Highest Point - Saddle Peak) in North Andaman near Kalipur beach.Temperature is Minimum 23oC and maximum 30oC.Total Rainfall is 3000 mms (May to mid-September & November to January) .Humidity is 70% to 90%.Total Population is 3,56,152 (As per provisional population Census-2001).Literacy rate is 71.07% (As per provisional population Census-2001).Forest covers 92%.
Communication
The mainland is connected by ship and air. Ships regularly ply between Port Blair, the capital, and Kolkata(1255 Km) and Madras (1190 Km) and Vishakhapatnam (1200 Km). Indian airlines operates Airlines between Port Blair and Kolkata and Chennai. Many of the inhabited islands are connected by ferry services.
Topography
Barring a few small Islands in the Nicobar group, all the others have undulating terrain with main ridges running North-South. There are also spurs running East – West in between the main ridges. Deep inlets and creeks are formed by the submerged valleys. Flatlands are few and perennial streams non – existent in most of the Islands except in Great Nicobar where there are 5 perennial rivers. Coral reefs surround most of the Islands.
Geology
The Islands are composed mainly of thick Eocene sediments deposited on Pre-Tertiary sandstone, silt stone and shale with intrusions of basic and ultra – basic igneous rocks. In the geologically Younger Richie’s archipelago, calcareous sand stones are more common.
The available geological evidence leads us to assume the possibility of geological period when the Andaman and Nicobar Islands formed a range between Burma and Sumatra. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Preparis and Cocos formed one continuous hill connecting this with Burma (Myanmar) through Cape Negrais.
This range was separated from Nicobar the other continuous Island by a strait of say 400 fathoms deep and 144 Km wide. Further in South the Nicobar Island was separated from Sumatra by yet another strait of 600 fathoms deep and about 48 Km wide. Thus Andaman and Nicobar formed 1120 Km stretch part of Aracan Yoma Range of Burma on the East of which lie curious Islands like Narcondum and Barren.
It is believed that the dormant Barran Island Volcano belongs to the immediate Sunda group of Volcanoes, while the long extant Narcondum Volcano belongs to the Pegu group, both belonging to the general Sunda group. These Volcanic Islands in line with Nicobars form one of the principal lines of weakness in the earth’s surface. It is noteworthy that the Andamans are just off this and escape the violent earthquakes to which the others are liable.
It is possible that the reason for Andamans escaping violent earthquakes while Nicobars are subject to them is that they are just off the line of greatest weakness which may run from Sumatra through Great Nicobar, Car Nicobar, Barran and Narcondum Islands to Aracan Yoma.
Soils
The Soils of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been classified into 3 orders Entisols, Inceptisols and Alfisols. The main agricultural soils are found in the valleys and are of alluvial and colluvial origin. The coastal areas prone to tidal floods may have acid sulphate soils. On the whole soils of these Islands are nutritionally poor and their organic matter content is on decline.
Climate
The climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is described as Tropical Climate. The Islands are situated in the Hot or Torrid Zone. Nearly 86 percent of total area in these Islands is covered by forest. There are only two seasons viz. Rainy Season and Summer Season and virtually there is no Winter Season. Islands are visited by South - West and North - East monsoons during the period from May to December. Average annual rainfall in these Islands is 3000 mm. The period from January to April is Summer Season. The mean relative humidity is 79% The mean maximum temperature is 30.2oC and mean minimum temperature is 23.8oC.
Religion
The religion-wise population of Andaman Islands is as under:
1) Hindus 2) Muslims 3) Christians 4) Sikhs
5) Budhists 6) Jains 7) Other
Literacy
The literacy rate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as per 2001 Census is 252945 with male literacy rate of 146536 and that of female 10640
Language
Most of Indian languages are spoken in Andaman and Nicobar Islands because of its cosmopolitan nature. The common language is Hindi whereas English and Hindi are used in official correspondence. The languages spoken in these islands include
1) Hindi 2) Bengali 3) Tamil 4) Telugu
5) Malayalam 6) Punjabi 7) Marathi 8) Kannada
9) Oriya 10) Gujarati 11) Karen
All the above languages have their normal script as prevalent elsewhere in mainland. The Karen language has the Burmese script and alphabets. Apart from these languages, the tribal dialects include Onge, Jarawa, Sentinelese and Andamanese Only Nicobarese, among these dialects, has a script of its own. The Nicobarese dialect has a Roman script and its own alphabets.