5, THE INDIAN ISLANDS — m the large number of islands in the an of the Indian coast, there are two ia groups of islands in the Indian Ocean far away from the coast. One of these is the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal and the other is g group of tiny islands known as the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. These islands have gained much importance and their study has become almost sable in view of the increasing interest of Apart fro’ proximity indispen: The Andaman and Nicobar group of islands form an arcuate chain, convex to the west, extending from 6° 45’ N to 13° 45’ N and from 92° 10’ E to 94° 15' E fora ith a maximum width of about 58 km. This archipelago is composed 01 covering a cumulative area of about 8249 sq km. The entire chain consists of two distinct groups of islands. The Great Andaman group of islands in the north is separated by the BeGaeiOn the Nicobar group in the south. The Andaman is a closely knit group of about 203° islands. Tes 260 km long and 30 km wide with att area of 6596 sq km. This group of islands is divided - into three major groups viz. North Andaman, Middle Andaman and South Andaman. Little Andaman is separated from the Great Anadmans by 50 km wide Duncan Passage. Scanned with CamScannerpuySIOGRAPHY ‘The Nicobar group of islands consis i and 12 small islands together with sever te jslands. They are scattered over a length of 262 kin wwith maximum width of 58 km covering an area of 1,653 sq km. The Great Nicobar, as its name suggests, fic the largest island measuring 50 x 25 km. It is the ft ernmost island and is only 147 km away from ff Sumatra island of Indonesia. ® i Most of these islands are made of < we sting on basic and ‘ultrabasic volcanoess-The. and| % north of Port Blair, are ‘i | Some of the islands are fringed with coral reef "| Many of them are covered with thick forests and , some are highly dissected. : ind reach considerable heights. Saddle peak (737 m) in North Andaman is the highest peak. ‘The Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea, though literally mean one lakh islands is only a group of ‘They are widely scattered over an area ol q kms extending from 8° N to 12° 20' N and 71° 45’ E to 74 °E about 200-500 km south- = LAKSHADWEEP 0 cHeRBanani (INDIA) REEF ‘i D syraucone REEF 2 OCHETTLATT ° JawinoiytisLanos “KITTAN @(ADAMATT © ANDROTT KALPENI NINE DEGREE CHANNEL 4 % “on, © 4% + 2 MINICOY tom:54 Km eee west of the Kerala coast. The islands north of 11° N are known as Amendivi Islands while those south of this latitude are called Cannanore Islands. In the extreme south is the Minicoy island. AM are tin and are surrounded ‘ae ‘The largest and the most advanced is the Minicoy island with an area of 4.53 sq km. Betra has an area of only 0.12 sq km. Most of the islands have low elevation and do not rise more than five metre above sea level. Their topography is flat and relief features such as{ hills, streams, valleys, etc. are conspicuous by their absence. \s are seen on their » while on the eastern ‘$eabOatd the slopes are steeper. (PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF | IINDIAL gebeeee hil The term physiography was conceived as ‘a description of nature’ or ‘of natural features’ in their causal relationships. After some time, the term became almost synonymous with physical geography. Gradually, it became limited to the study of landforms, ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS (INDIA) FIG. 3.15. Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Scanned with CamScanner