The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, form an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. They lie between 6° and 14° North latitude and 92° and 94° East longitude, approximately 1,300 km southeast of the Indian mainland.
The territory consists of 836 islands, islets, and rocky outcrops, of which only about 38 are permanently inhabited. The islands are divided into two main groups:
Andaman Group — islands north of 10°N latitude
Nicobar Group — islands south of 10°N latitude
The climate is humid tropical coastal, influenced by both the southwest and northeast monsoons. Rainfall is heavy, peaking from May to December, with the islands receiving abundant precipitation throughout the year.
Before the establishment of the British penal settlement at Port Blair in 1858, the islands were covered by dense tropical forests, with no agriculture practiced by the aboriginal inhabitants. Efforts to make Port Blair self-supporting through agriculture began in 1870 under the administration of Lord Mayo. Plantation agriculture in the Nicobar Islands has a longer history, while organized farming in the Andaman Islands is relatively recent, dating back about 100 years.
The original inhabitants were hunter-gatherers and fishers living in the forests. The islands are home to six indigenous tribes:
Negrito tribes (Andaman Group): Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, and Sentinelese
Mongoloid tribes (Nicobar Group): Nicobarese and Shompen (Shompens)
These communities traditionally relied on hunting, fishing, and, in some cases, limited agriculture.
The islands boast rich biodiversity, with forests covering a large area and valuable timber species such as padauk, gurjan, and teak. The faunal distribution reflects influences from both Indo-Chinese and Indo-Malayan regions. Notably, large mammals are absent in both the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands are endowed with a unique and varied animal life on land and in the surrounding seas, including endemic species and rich marine biodiversity.
Soil profiles vary widely across the islands, ranging from heavy clayey to sandy loams, which poses challenges for uniform crop cultivation and limits large-scale commercial farming.
Major cash crops include coconut, arecanut, and spices (such as black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon). Fruits and vegetables are grown on hilly terrain.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands blend pristine natural beauty, unique biodiversity, rich cultural heritage, and a tranquil island lifestyle, making them a treasure of India’s maritime frontier.