Nicobar district

Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Nicobar Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal, bordering with the Andaman Sea). The area covered by this district is 1841 km². The headquarters of the district is located on the island of Car Nicobar.

The district administration is headed by a Deputy Commissioner, who in turn reports into the Lt. Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

It is the fifth least populous district in the country (out of 640).^[1]

Etymology

Falling between the sea route from South India / Sri Lanka to South East Asia and vice-vers, the voyagers referred it as “land of the nake” i.e. Nakkavar which is perhaps the direct Predecessor of the current name “Nicobar’. The medieval Arabic name ‘Lankhabatus’ is a mere mistranscription and misapprehension of “Nankakar or Nakkavar”.

History

The district was created on August 1, 1974, when it was separated off from Andaman district.^[2]

Lord Ram, the hero of epic ‘Ramayana’ is meant to have passed through the Islands during his period of exile )Mathur: 1967). Somdev’s ‘Kathasaritsagar’ (11th century) indicates it as ‘Narikel Dweep’. The islands have also been mentioned in the accounts of travellers like Fahien, (6th century); I-T’sing (early 7th century); Ptolemy (2nd century); Marco Polo (13th century) and Friar Oderic (early 14th century). The islands were known in China as Lo-Jan Kuo (land of the naked people) according to the writings of I-T’Sing. An inscription dated (1059 AD) of the Chola King of Tanjore indicates that these islands were used as base shelter station for waging war and keeping control over South East Asia. The geographical names for the different islands have all obscure, complicated and interesting histories, whereas, each island has a native name too.

Geography

Nicobar district occupies an area of 1,841 square kilometres (711 sq mi),^[3] comparatively equivalent to Mauritius.^[4]

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Nicobar district has a population of 36,819 ,^[5] roughly equal to the nation of Liechtenstein.^[6] This gives it a ranking of 636th in India (out of a total of 640).^[5] The district has a population density of 20 inhabitants per square kilometre (52 /sq mi) .^[5] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was -12.48 %.^[5] Nicobars has a sex ratio of 778 females for every 1000 males,^[5] and a literacy rate of 77.5 %.^[5]

The district is designated as an Integrated Tribal District, and is home to significant numbers of indigenous peoples (namely, the Nicobarese and the Shompen, classified as Scheduled Tribes according to the Constitution of India), who form the majority of the district's population. Because of its status as a tribal area, travel to the district is restricted to Indian nationals, and special permit restrictions apply.

The district was severely affected by the tsunami that was caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which led to many deaths and damaged infrastructure.

Divisions

The district comprises five tehsils, Car Nicobar, Kamrota, Nancowrie, Little Nicobar, and Great Nicobar.

References

1. ^ "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
2. ^ Law, Gwillim (2011-09-25). "Districts of India". Statoids. http://www.statoids.com/yin.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11. 
3. ^ Srivastava, Dayawanti et al. (ed.) (2010). "States and Union Territories: Andaman Islands: Government". India 2010: A Reference Annual (54th ed.). New Delhi, India: Additional Director General, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Government of India. pp. 1208. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7. 
4. ^ "Island Directory Tables: Islands by Land Area". United Nations Environment Program. 1998-02-18. http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-11. "Mauritius 1,836km2" 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
6. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "212 Liechtenstein 35,236 July 2011 est." 

External links

• Nicobar district official website