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The Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar is a group of islands located in the Bay of Bengal. It is an archipelago comprising 572 islands, which is located at a distance of about 193km from Cape Negrais. It is 1255 km away from Kolkata and 1190 km away from Chennai.
Geography of Andaman & Nicobar features two groups of islands. They are the Nicobar Islands and the Andaman Islands. The latter separate the Andaman Sea from the Indian Ocean. 550 of the 572 islands are located in the Andaman Islands. Out of them, 26 are inhabited by humans. The Nicobar group of islands has about 22 major islands, out of which 12 are inhabited. Labyrinth Islands and Ritchie's Archipelago are the two major islets of the Nicobar group of islands. The Nicobar Islands are situated to the south of Andaman Islands.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are separated by the Ten Degree Channel which is about 150 km wide. The total area of Andaman Islands is about 6,408 square kilometers and the total area of the Nicobar Islands is approximately 1,841 square kilometers.
Terrain
Geography of Andaman & Nicobar features mountainous terrain with long ranges of hills and narrow valleys. The maximum altitude of these islands is at Saddle Peak, which is about 730m above sea level. The peak is formed of sandstone, limestone and clay. There are no great elevations and the slopes are also moderate.
The Nicobar Islands are surrounded by the shallow seas and coral reef. The topography of Nicobar Islands features long, sandy beaches. Katchal and Car Nicobar have almost flat terrain. In Great Nicobar and Little Nicobar, the land is very irregular, having steep hills and valleys.
Climate
The climate of these islands is of tropical type. It remains humid and warm throughout the year. The rainfall is irregular. The north-east monsoon season is dry and the south-west monsoons are very wet. The temperature of these islands varies from 23 degree centigrade to 31 degree centigrade. The annual rainfall in these islands is about 3180mm.
Flora and Fauna
About 90 percent area of these islands is covered by the forests. These forests consist of about 3,000 species of various plants, including epiphytes, woody climbers, mangroves, palms, timbers and a large variety of tropical fruits. In these islands you can find a variety of forests such as giant evergreen forest, cane brakes, wet bamboo brakes, tropical evergreen forest, littoral forest, mangrove forest and Andaman's moist deciduous forest.
These tropical rain forests contain various animals such as wild boar, 14 species of bats, 26 species of rodents, spotted deer, sambar, barking deer and leopard. One can also find 270 species of birds such as Andaman Hawk Owl, Andaman Crake and Brown Coucal in these forests. There are about 225 species of butterflies and moths teeming in the wilds of these islands.
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