Nicobar Islands

Nicobar Islands, group of 19 islands, India, in the Indian Ocean, between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The islands form, with the Andaman Islands to the north, a union territory called the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands, formed by the peaks of a submerged mountain range, extend some 320 km (200 mi) in a north-western to south-eastern direction, and total about 1,841 sq km (711 sq mi) in area. Great Nicobar is the largest and southernmost of the islands. The chief occupations are fishing, woodworking, and handicrafts, and the chief products are coconut, coffee, rice, and rubber.

The Nicobar Islands were annexed by Great Britain in 1869. During World War II they were held (1942-1945) by the Japanese. In December 2004 they were hit by a series of tsunamis that devastated and submerged the islands in the chain. The giant waves killed at least 900 people in the Andaman and Nicobars, with another 7,000 presumed missing from the territory. Population of the Andaman and Nicobar islands 356,265 (2001).