Today, most of the 3,00,000 people on the Andamans are mainlanders or their descendants and live in South Andaman. They have come
from all across India, especially Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Port
Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in South
Andaman has a truly cosmopolitan texture with people of all religions,
castes and cultures living in peaceful coexistence. And for this reason,
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also called Mini India.
2 The Island has a lot to offer to an avid tourist. Out of the total area
nearly 50% comprises Tribal Reserves, National Park and Wildlife
Sanctuaries. Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park exhibits a
variety of corals, coloured fish, sea turtles and other sea animals.
Sight-seeing tours, scuba diving, snorkelling, trekking, island
camping and relaxing are some of the other activities one can indulge
in.
3 Situated in the Bay of Bengal, about 800 km off the East coast of
India, they stretch across more than 700 km from North to South with
36 inhabited islands. The archipelago is believed to have been part of
a mountain range that extended from Burma to Indonesia. It still
retains its original geography of hilly terrain with dense tropical
forests.
4 The islands support nearly two thousand species of plants and more
than 250 species of birds. They had been covered in mystery for
centuries before they were first colonised by the British in 1789. Being
cut off from the rest of the world, the social and cultural development
of its inhabitants was also in complete isolation and the entire
population consisted of aborigines.
1.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, attempt any eight of the
following questions : 18=8
(a) Which is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands ?
(b) Most of the mainlanders settled on the islands belong to
.
(c) What do you understand by cosmopolitan texture ?
(d) What is Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park famous
for ?
(e) Which activities attract the tourists to the islands ?
(f) What is the location of Andaman Islands ?
(g) Why were the islands in complete isolation ?
(h) When did the British government settle as colonists ?
(i) How many species of birds are sustained in the islands