486 Top Andaman Tour Packages

Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a chain of 572 islands, islets and rocks spread over an area of 8,249 sq km in the Bay of Bengal. Of these, only 38 are inhabited. The Andaman Islands are located in the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 1,200 km from the Indian mainland. The Nicobar Islands are located in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 1,600 km from the Indian mainland.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are believed to have been inhabited for several thousand years and there is evidence of human habitation from about 2,300 years ago. The first recorded mention of the islands is in the Arakanese chronicles of the 14th century.

 

The islands were first visited by the British in 1789 and were subsequently occupied by the British in 1790. The British used the islands as a penal colony and the first prisoners were sent to the Andamans in 1793. The Cellular Jail or Kala Pani was built in Port Blair in 1906 to house the prisoners.

The islands were transferred from the British to the Indian government in 1956. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are now a Union Territory of India.

The islands are home to a variety of flora and fauna. The Jarawa and the Sentinelese tribes who inhabit the islands are among the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes in the world. The islands are also home to a variety of animals, including the Andaman wild boar, the dugong and the saltwater crocodile.