DWIEP

Geography

Island code

INAN824

Name of the island

Great Nicobar Island

Island note

Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India. The island covers 921 sq.km but is sparsely inhabited, largely being covered by rainforest and known for its diverse wildlife. The island was recorded as ""Cui Lan island"" and is the home to the Shompen people. The island has several rivers, including the Alexandra, Amrit Kaur, Dogmar and Galathea. Almost all rivers flow in a southern or southwesterly direction due to the general slope of the terrain. Mount Thullier is the highest peak in the Nicobar group with an altitude of 642 m above sea level. The Island includes, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Campbell Bay National Park, Galathea National Park, Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Megapode Island Wildlife Sanctuary. The non-Biosphere portions of the island are utilized for agriculture, forestry and settlements and are confined to the southwestern and southeastern coastal reaches. The Island is well known for high endemism and diversity. Podocarpus wallichianus, a rare gymnosperm reported from the evergreen forests of Great Nicobar Island. Tree ferns (Sphaeropteris nicobarica and S. albosetacea) are a unique occurrence in dense forest of this island. Galathea Bayin Great Nicobar is the nesting ground for Giant Leather Back turtles. Out of the 270 bird species and sub-species reported from Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Sankaran and Vijayan 1993), 56 were from the Nicobar (Andrews and Sankaran 2002). Indira Point (6°45

Type of island

Oceanic Island

State / UT

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Location

Andaman Sea (The island lies south of Little Nicobar and Kondul island)

Geographical coordinates

07°03'27.31"N
93°48'14.27"E

Area

1044.54 Sq.Km

Area range

above 50 Sq.Km

Climate

The climate of Great Nicobar (Gandhi Nagar) is categorized as

Terrain

In general, the island has undulating hills throughout the island, with the main range running in a north-south orientation.

Elevation / Altitude

642 m

Soil type

Alluvial soil, Sandy soil, Valley soil and Hilly soil

Fresh water sources

Ground water and rain water harvesting

Hydrology

The presence of Iron (Fe) content in groundwater is more than the permissible limit and found to occur in pockets. Brackishness in dug wells were reported close to the coastal tracts of the island (Source: CGWB report, Kolkata, 2013).

Demography

Habitation

Inhabited

Population

Total Population: 8046 Male: 5025 Female: 3342 (Source: Census, 2011)

Language

Punjabi, English, Tamil, Car (regional)

Religion

Christianity, Islam, Hindu

Ethnic groups

Hindu, punjabi, Nicobarese shompen, malay

Traditional knowledge

Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Island are experts in navigation skills such as recognition techniques of different kinds of waves, tides, currents, winds, depths measuring, direction finding using stars, cyclone prediction, navigational techniques in lagoon and open sea, fishing etc. They are expertise in making handicrafts such as bow, arrow and spears, wooden buckets and chest guards. They use medicinal plants for curing multiple ailments such as intestinal disorders, malarial fever, asthma, cough, cancerous blisters, arthritis and allergic ailments.

Shoreline Characteristics

Coastline / Shoreline

202 km

Tidal amplitude

0.815 m

Bathymetry

Infrastructure and Communication

Infrastructure

Hospital, dispensary, bank, post office, anganwadi, school, church, electricity, water supply, road network, police station, helipad, berthing jetty.

Communication

Telephone system

Transportation

Transport

From Port Blair, the island can be reached to Great Nicobar by government-operated ferries and helicopter.

Nearest Port / Jetty / Harbour

Port Blair

Distance to nearest Port / Jetty / Harbour

Port Blair (headquarter of A&N) is the nearest port to Gret Nicobar (Campbell Bay) which is approximately 533 km away.

Shortest distance from mainland

Port Blair (headquarter of A&N) is connected to mainland Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata by means of air and sea. It is 1362 km (by air) away from Chennai.

Nearest Airport

Veer Savarkar Airport, Port Blair

Activities

Agriculture

Paddy, vegetables, coconut, areca nut, fruits

Commercial activity

Agricultural activities

Industries

None

Tourism

Tourist places

None

Tourism activity

None

Biodiversity and Conservation

Flora

Seaweed, Seagrasses, mangroves, littoral forests, coconut, and protected forests.

Fauna

Nicobar scrubfowl (Megapodius nicobariensis), the edible-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus), the Nicobar long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis umbrosa), saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), giant leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), Malayan box turtle, Nicobar tree shrew, reticulated python (Python reticulatus) and the giant robber crab (or coconut crab, Birgus latro), Crustaceans, marine molluscs, fishes, sea birds (Vanellus cinereus, Dendronanthus indicus, Egretta alba, Tringa glareola, Gallirallus striatus nicobariensis, Saxicola stejnegeri, Eurystomus orientalis gigas, Sturnus roseus) and others

Medicinal plants

Andaman and Nicobar Islands are considered to be a hot spot of biodiversity of medicinal plants. There are 2500 angiospermic species of which 223 are endemic. Out of 2500 angiospermic species distributed across the island territory, the aboriginals, viz. Nicobarese, Shompen, Jarawas, Sentinels, Ongese and Great Andamanese use 52 species as medicaments. The family consisting of largest number of endemic species is Rubiaceae with 41 species followed by Euphorbiaceae and Orchidaceae with 34 and 24 taxa, respectively. Ixora of Rubiaceae is the largest genus with 12 species endemic to the islands. Out of 301 taxa, 251 are species, 7 are subspecies and 43 are varieties. Further, 62 species, 2 subspecies and 9 varieties are found to be endemic to both Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 135 species, 5 subspecies and 2 varieties are endemic to Andaman only and 54 species and 12 varieties are endemic to Nicobars only (Rao Vasudeva, 1986; Das et al., 2006).

Type of forest

No data available

Endangered species

Predominantly social forestry vegetation, mangrove and other flora

Flagship species

Fauna: Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis, Sea water crocodile, Dugong, dolphins and whales, sea turtles, shark species, sea cucumbers, Trochus, Giant Clam Shells. Flora: Arecaceae (family)- Bentinckia nicobarica; Orchidaceae (family) - Dendrobium tenuicaule; Eulophia nicobarica; Phalaenopsis speciosa; Taeniophyllum andamanicum; Rubiaceae (family) -Wendlandia andamanica; Viscaceae (family) -Ginalloa andamanica

Keystone species

No data available

Conservation status
(Protected / Unprotected with ESA /
Unprotected without ESA)

Protected with ESA

Sanctuary

Yes, mangroves, coral reefs, turtle nesting site

Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESAs)

Yes, Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Megapode Island Wildlife Sanctuary

Hazards

Natural hazards

Cyclone and Tsunami

Seismic sensitivity

As per the seismic zone map of India, Andaman & Nicobar is assigned the highest earthquake hazard, zone V. (Source: NDMA, 2016)

High Flood Line (HFL) / Tsunami

Great Nicobar island was severely affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami with death toll of 102 and 16 people missing due to the disaster. The Indira point light house was subsided 4.25 m, as a result of this subsidence, the coast retreated and the sea moved permanently inland. It is reported that the maximum run-up height of tsunami is 8 m at Campbell Bay. The Campbell Bay jetty was significantly collapsed during the event and thereby hampering relief efforts.

Environmental Issues

Environment-current issues

Subsidence, coastal erosion and marine pollution (plastic debris from open ocean)

Data Web on Island Environment and Protection (DWIEP)

Coastal and Oceanic Island Database of India

Great Nicobar Island