Car Nicobar

:"For Malacca, Malaysia, see Malacca."

Car Nicobar ( Pu in the local language) is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands, which in turn are the southern part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It lies at coord|9|10|N|92|45|E| and has an area of 127 km². The island was ravaged by the 2004 tsunami.

Geography

Car Nicobar falls in between Little Andaman and Nancowrie. The area south to the Ten-degree channel comes under Car Nicobar headquarter. It is a flat fertile island covered with cluster of coconut palms and enchanting beaches with a roaring sea all around. It lies between latitude 9°10′N and longitude 92°45′E.

The Car Nicobar is a very small Island, in comparison to the Middle Andaman or South Andaman. In area it is of 127 km². There are 15 villages, which are inhabitants, the largest being Malacca.

The climate of Car Nicobar Island is tropical, as it is just 9 degree from the equator, with an annual rainfall of 400 mm. The data of past ten year shows that the mean relative humidity in the Island is 79%, and the mean maximum temperatures is of 30.20 C, and mean minimum temperature is 23.00 C.

The soil analysis revealed high content of sand & clay hindering the growth of agricultural crops. The area of Car Nicobar is suitable for the plantation crops, and coconut and arecanut are the major products, which are grown in the area.

Administration

Although the area of Car Nicober is less than 7% of the area of the Nicobar group, in the census of 2001 its population of 29,145 was more than half of the total Nicobar population.

There were 15 villages, namely, 1)Ha-nyôch (Mus) 2)Töt-chak (Kinmai), 3)Tö-kuö-nö Sē-ti (Small Lapathy) 4)Tö-ki-röng Sē-ti (Big Lapathy) 5)Höng-chu (Tapoiming) 6)Pum-pai (Chukchucha) 7)Sa-rā-ki (Kinyuka) 8)Tim-lö (Tamalu) 9)Kè-è-rô (Perka) 10)U-rèk-ka (Malacca) 11)Sa-pë-ha (Kakana) 12)Öt-ra-höön (Kimius) 13)Ha-ran (Arong) 14)Öt-ka-sip (Sawai) 15)Rit-töp (Titop), {the names in brackets are modern names as the local names Nicobarese are difficult for outsiders to pronounce}, the largest being Malacca (pop. 4,314).

Each villages consist of tuhet meaning elderly heads, the number of which varies according to the size of the [Tuhet] . From each of these elders three are elected as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd captain to look after the day-to-day affairs of the village.

Direct administration of the island is performed by the Car Nicobar tehsil, a local administratve division of the Nicobar district. A "tehsil" is roughly equivalent to a county in its administrative powers.

2004 tsunami devastation

Car Nicobar lies 750 km (465 miles) from the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the ensuing tsunamis struck it with great force. Witnesses reported the waves were as high as 30 ft (9 m). As of December 30, 2004, the number of casualties remained unknown, but seemed likely to be high. One survivor told the Associated Press: "There's not a single hut which is standing. Everything is gone. Most of the people have gone up to the hills and are afraid to come down."