In this article, we discuss Indian islands that are important for competitive exams such as UPSC, SSC, CGL, etc...
An island is any piece of subcontinental land that is surrounded by water. There are a total of 247 islands in India, out of which 204 are in the Bay of Bengal and 43 are in the Arabian Sea.
Islands in Bay of Bengal:
There are a total of 204 islands in the Bay of Bengal, which we call Andaman and Nicobar.
Andaman and Nicobar islands are formed due to the collision of the Indian Plate and Burma plate which is a part of the Eurasian plate.
This is the Young Fold Mountains of the Himalayas. They are called Arakan Yoma in Myanmar.
Arakan Yoma in Myanmar is an extension of Purvanchal hills and Andaman and Nicobar is a southern extension of Arakan Yoma.
These are of volcanic origin which is made of granite rock and have huge peaks. The climate here is equatorial and there is a tropical forest.
The Andaman and Nicobar extend for a distance of about 590 km.
Andaman Islands:
The Andaman is divided into three major islands i.e. North Andaman, Middle Andaman, and South Andaman.
The Little Andaman and South Andaman are separated by Duncan passage.
The largest island of the Andaman group is Middle Andaman and the smallest island is Roos Island.
The highest peak of Andaman is the saddle peak which is 727 meters high.
The capital of the Andaman and Nicobar group is Port Blair that lies in the South Andaman.
All the Andaman islands are combined called Greater Andaman and are separated by 10 Degree channel from the Nicobar group in the south.
The coco strait is lies between the North Andaman and Coco Island of Myanmar.
Nicobar Islands:
The Nicobar group of islands contains islands such as Car Nicobar, Middle Nicobar, and Great Nicobar from North to South.
Great Nicobar is the southernmost island and Car Nicobar is the northernmost island.
The largest island of the Nicobar group is Great Nicobar and the smallest island is PiloMillow.
The highest peak of Nicobar is Mount Thullier.
The grand channel is lies between the Great Nicobar island and the Sumatra islands of Indonesia.
The Barran and Narcondam island present north of Port Blair is the active volcanoes in India.
What is Richie Archipelago?
The smallest group of islands that present at the east of Greater Andaman i.e. about 20 km east, is called Richie Archipelago.
Some of the examples of the Richie archipelago are Neil island and havelock island. Neil island is also known as shahid dweep and Havelock island as swaraj dweep.
Ross Island is present at 3 km from Port Blair in South Andaman Region and it is renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep.
Islands in Arabian Sea:
The islands present in the Arabian sea are called Lakshadweep islands. There are 43 islands in the Arabian Sea.
The main islands of Lakshadweep are Kavaratti, Agatti, Minicoy, and Amini. These islands were earlier known as Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi islands.
It is the small union territory of India that is administrated by the President. Kavaratti is the capital of the Lakshadweep islands.
The Lakshadweep islands group is made up of coral deposits and it is 280 to 480 km off to the Kerala coast.
Basically, coral deposits is a rock formed from calcium carbonate released by corals. Coral is a type of small sea creature that lives in a group in the number of millions.
Minicoy Island is the largest island among the Lakshadweep Islands.
The 8-degree channel separates Minicoy Islands and Maldives Island and the 9-degree channel separates the Minicoy Island and Lakshadweep islands.
New Moore Island:
It is a small uninhabited offshore sandbar landform in the Bay of Bengal.
It is located off the coast of the Ganges-Bramhaputra Delta region. It emerged in the Bay of Bengal in the aftermath of the Bhola Cyclone in 1970.
It keeps on emerging and disappearing. Both India and Bangladesh claimed sovereignty over it.
Majuli Island:
Majuli is the large river Island in the Bramhaputra river in Assam. It was formed due to the course changes by the river Bramhaputra and its tributaries.
Other Islands of India:
There are several islands in India other than main islands such as Sagar island, Wheeler island, Hope island, Sriharikota island, Narcodam island, Barren island, Katchatheevu island, Salasette island, Wellington island, Halliday island, Phumdis/Floating island in Manipur, Munroe island, etc...
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