Little Andaman Island (

Onge The Onge (also Önge, Ongee, and Öñge) are an Andamanese ethnic group, indigenous to the Andaman Islands in Southeast Asia at the Bay of Bengal, currently administered by India. They are traditionally hunter-gatherers and fishers, but al ...

: ''Gaubolambe'') is the fourth largest of the Andaman Islands of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with an area of 707 km², lying at the southern end of the

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 Arc ...

. It belongs to the

South Andaman South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman a ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, part of the

n 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 ...

. It lies south of

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

, the capital of

Geography

The island is 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 betwee ...

and belongs to the Little Andaman Group, and is separated from Rutland Island in

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 ...

by the Duncan Passage. The Little Andaman Group is the counterpart of the

island group. The low-lying island has widespread rainforest and several rare species of

marine turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead ...

. Little Andaman Island has white sandy beaches and bewitching waterfalls. The Little Andaman Lighthouse (a.k.a. Richardson's Lighthouse) is located 14 km south by road from Hut Bay port and is situated on the Southern tip of Little Andaman Island.

Climate

Administration

Administratively, Little Andaman Island is part of Little Andaman Tehsil.

Demographics

The island is home to the indigenous

tribe, who call the island ''Egu Belong'', and has been a tribal reserve since 1957. Settlers from Bengal and other places also live here. As per the census of 2011, the population was 18,823 in 4,093 households, spread among 18 villages. The main village of Kwate-tu-Kwage is located on Hut Bay.

Transportation

Hut Bay wharf, a deep water

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

that can be approached through a gap in the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

, on the east coast of the island is the entry point of Little Andaman Island. Daily boat services connect Hut Bay wharf with Port Blair in seven hours voyage. Additionally, there are a helicopter services by Pavan Hans Ltd. and a sea plane connection available between Port Blair and Hut Bay. The flight time by helicopter or sea plane is approximately 40 minutes. There is a road alongside the east coastal line.

Tourism

Little Andaman offers surfing, boating through the creeks, and visits to an elephant logging plantation. Butler Bay, 14 km from the Hut Bay Jetty, is a beach popular among tourists due to coral viewing, surfing and other marine activities. Tourist huts are available on the seashore itself flanked by the coconut plantation. Netaji Nagar Beach is 11 km from the Hut Bay jetty.guide
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Image gallery

File:Little Andaman locale.png, Outline map of the Andaman Islands, with the location of Little Andaman highlighted (in red). File:Little Andaman STS032-72-64.jpg, 1990 Space Shuttle image of Little Andaman

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Andaman Island Cities and towns in South Andaman district Islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands