Geology:The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the IndoAustralian Plate with

Eurasia. The collision lifted the Himalayas and most of the Indonesian islands, and created a long arc of highlands and islands, which includes the Arakan Yoma range of Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and the islands off the west coast of Sumatra, including the Banyak Islands and Mentawai Islands.

EcologyThe climate is warm and tropical, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 30C. Rainfall is heavy due to
annual monsoons and measures around 3000 to 3800 mm each year. The vegetation of the Nicobars is typically divided into the coastal mangrove forests and the interior evergreen and deciduous Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Additionally, several islands contain extensive inland grasslands, though these are thought to result from human intervention.

The Nicobar islands are believed to have been inhabited for thousands of years. Six indigenous Nicobarese languages are spoken on the islands, which are part of the MonKhmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family, which includes Mon, Khmer and Vietnamese languages of Southeast Asia, and the Munda languages of India. An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar, called the Shompen, may be of Mesolithic Southeast Asian origin.[1] The name "Nicobar" is likely derived from the Chola dynasty name for the islands, Nakkavaram (literally, "naked man" in Tamil) which is inscribed on the Tanjore inscription of AD 1050. The history of organized European colonization on the islands began with the Danish East India Company in 1754/56 when they were administrated under the name of Frederikserne from Tranquebar (in continental Danish India); missionaries from the Moravian Church Brethren's settlement in Tranquebar attempted a settlement on Nancowry and died in great numbers from disease; the islands were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria: 1784 - 1807/09, 18301834 and finally from 1848 gradually for good. Between 1778 and 1783, Austria attempted to establish a colony on the islands on the mistaken assumption that Denmark had abandoned its claims to the islands.[4] Danish involvement ended formally on 16 October 1868 when the Danish rights to the Nicobar Islands were sold to Britain,[4] which made them part of British India by 1869 when the British took possession.