11 Unknown Facts about the Andamans

Lord Hanuman (The Hindu Monkey god) is said to have landed in Andaman islands on his way to Lanka (Now Sri Lanka). People thus believe that the name Andaman has been derived from the word Hanuman or Handuman.

Andaman is home to the Sentinel tribe, who are said to be the most isolated tribe in the world. They respond with intense hostility at any attempt of outside contact, hurling arrows and stones at any unlucky visitor approaching their shores.

Nobody has ever been able to contact them for over 60,000 years.

Read More: Tribes of the Andamans

The Andaman Islands are a fascinating archipelago located in the Bay of Bengal, forming a natural bridge between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The islands lie approximately 800 km from mainland India, around 150 km from Indonesia, and relatively close to Myanmar (Burma).

The largest land living arthropod, coconut crab, lives in Andaman. These are super huge crabs and they hate water ,they are mostly like land animals and they love climbing coconut trees.

Thousands of butterflies flock to the Andaman Island every year. Andaman is a proud host to butterflies that migrate to the islands.

Even postal stamps have been issued in honor of this phenomenon.

Dermocheleys Coriacea, the largest sea turtles in the world nest in the Andaman islands. They are huge in size and thousands of them flock to the Andamans every year. Additionally, even the Olive Ridely turtles come to the Andamans and use it as their nesting ground.

These turtles can be seen nesting between December and January in Diglipur and many other places specially in north and middle Andaman.

Read More: Kalipur Beach

The image that one can see behind the 20 rupee note is a view of the lighthouse at north bay island from mount Harriet. Both of which are close to Port Blair and can be visited on a day trip.

Read More: North Bay Island

During World War 2 Andaman Islands Were The Only Part Of India To Come Under Japanese Occupation.

The Japanese did occupy parts of north east India but this was only for 6 months. The Andaman islands stayed under them for 3 years. Japanese underground tunnels and bunkers can be seen all around the island. One near Corbyn’s cove and one at Ross Island too!

Read More: Ross Island

Katchal Islands in Andaman enjoyed the the first sunrise of this millennium.

The Andaman Islands have a very wast and wide range of flura but very few know that the area covered by it is more than any other state in India. Dense tropical  forests cover about 90% of the Andaman Islands.

There are 572 islands that make up the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Only 38 of them are inhabited.