Baratang Island is an island of the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between t ...

. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

, part of the Indian union territory of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

. The island lies north of Port Blair.

History

Ranchiwalas Island is another name for Baratang Island. Towards the close of the nineteenth century, the city of Ranchi experienced political upheaval. Many locals sought refuge by converting to Christianity with the help of the missionaries there. The British, realizing the future prospects of the forests of Andaman and Nicobar islands, sent the converts to Baratang Island to cultivate crops. The laborers from Ranchi settled there and made new lives for themselves. A lighthouse was commissioned in 1985 at the eastern entrance to the Andaman strait.

Geography

The island belongs to the

Great Andaman Great Andaman is the main archipelago of the Andaman Islands of India. It comprises seven major islands. From north to south, these are North Andaman, Interview Island, Middle Andaman, Long Island, Baratang Island, South Andaman, and Rutland Is ...

Chain, and with an area of it is one of the main

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s of the group, a closely set

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...

in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

, adjoining the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated fro ...

Middle Andaman Middle Andaman Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Geography The island belongs to the Great Andam ...

is to its north, and South Andaman to the south. Beaches, mangrove creeks,

limestone caves Limestone (calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime_(material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphis ...

, and

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce ...

es are some of the physical features. The islands of

Ritchie's Archipelago Ritchie's Archipelago is a cluster of smaller islands which lie east of Great Andaman, the main island group of the Andaman Islands. The Islands belong to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andama ...

lie to the east. Port Blair, the capital of the Indian Union Territory of

, is located approximately from the southern tip of Baratang. Baratang contains the only known examples of

es in India. These mud volcanoes have erupted sporadically, with recent eruptions in 2005 believed to have been associated with the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

. The previous major eruption recorded was on 18 February 2003. The locals call this mud volcano ''jalki''. There are other volcanoes in the area, the Barren Island volcano which is the only

active volcano An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano. Overview Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, and the Narcondum volcano which has been classified as a dormant volcano by the

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

Administration

Administratively, Baratang Island is part of

Rangat Rangat is a town on the Middle Andaman Island, Andaman Archipelago. It is also one of the three counties (''tehsils'') administrative divisions of the North and Middle Andaman district, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of Ind ...

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

. Forest area of island is managed by DFO, Baratang.

Transportation

The island is dissected by the Andaman Trunk Road to Rangat and Mayabunder. There are two ferry crosses: "Bamboo Trikery" Jetty and "Nilambur" Jetty. The

Veer Savarkar International Airport Veer Savarkar International Airport is an international airport located south of Port Blair and is the main airport of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Originally known as "Port Blair Airport", it was renamed in 2002 after Vinayak Da ...

in the city of Port Blair is the nearest airport located approximately away from the isle.

Demographics

There are a twelve villages on Baratang, most noted are Adazig, Sunderghar, Nayaghar and Nilambur(HQ). According to the

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Informatio ...

, the Island has 5691 inhabitants. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 100%. This island is inhabited mainly by the migrated Chota Nagpuri tribes.

Tourism

Major attractions on the island include the limestone caves, the Mud Volcano, Parrot Island, and Baludera Beach.

Places to Stay include the APWD inspection bungalow, Guest House of Forest Department as well as some hotels viz., Dew Dale Resorts and Coral Creek Resort.

Image gallery

File:Baratang I locale.png, Location of Baratang File:Ferry with public, and vehicles crossing from Baratang to Middle Strait point, Andaman Islands, India.jpg, Ferry at Middle Strait jetty, Baratang File:Baratang Island Middle Strait entry point, Andaman Islands, India.JPG, Baratang Island Middle Strait jetty File:Baratang Island near Middle Strait entry point, Andaman Islands, India.JPG, Baratang Island Middle Strait jetty File:Mud Volcano Baratang Island, Andaman Island, India,.JPG, Mud Volcano of Baratang Island File:Baratang mud volcano.jpg, Mud Volcano of Baratang Island

References

External links

Geological Survey of India
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baratang Island Islands of North and Middle Andaman district Tourist attractions in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Volcanoes of India Volcanoes of the Indian Ocean Mud volcanoes