North Sentinel Island: People | History | Images

North Sentinel Island: The island is located in the Bay of Bengal ocean and it is one of the Andaman and Nicobar Island. The North Sentinel Island is the place for the Sentinelese people who don’t have any contact with the outside world. If someone tried to contact them, they violently refused to have contact with them leaving it as one of the untouched islands from the modern civilisation. Sentinelese people are the last people worldwide to remain untouched from the modern world.

North Sentinel Island Geography

North Sentinel Island comes under the administration of South Andaman Government. The island is located 36 Kilometres from the town of Wandoor which is located in South Andaman Island. Port Blair is situated 50 Kilometres from to the right of the island. The total area is about 59.67 square kilometres and is roughly a square-shaped outline.

The island is surrounded by coral reefs and it lacks natural harbours. The entire island is forested. Island is completed surrounded by narrow beach behind which the ground rises 20m. When moving towards the centre, the ground gradually rises between 46m to 122m in the centre.

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History of North Sentinel Island

The Sentinelese people are staying in the island without any contact with the outer world since the earlier dynasties. The Onge people were aware of the North Sentinelese people and they called them as “Chia daaKwokweyeh”. The North Sentinel Island came under many emperors which includes Chola dynasty between 1014 to 1044. Then came the Maratha Empire. After the Maratha Empire, British came to rule India and likewise, Sentinel Island became a part of British Empire.

During the British Empire, a team under Maurice Vidal Portman reached the island several times to explore the region. Once they had taken 6 people to Port Blair among which 4 people were sent back to their place. They visited the island several times and people on the island started attacking them whenever they visited. During the modern period, the government tried every year to reach them but left the place as they started attacking violently.

On 26 January 2006, two fishermen, Sunder Raj (48) and Pandit Tiwari (52) were killed by Sentinelese people when their boat accidentally drifted very close to the North Sentinel island when they were fishing for the mud crabs. This was the last contact with the Sentinelese people and after that, no one tried to contact them.

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North Sentinel Island Population

The population in the island is roughly estimated as 50 to 400 individuals but there is proof as the government is left without any contact with the people. In the 2011 census, 15 people were found on the shores when they tried to visit the island. The Indian government has declared the island and 3 kilometres surrounding the island as an exclusion zone. Tourists are not allowed inside the 3 km zone.

North Sentinel Island Facts

The below are the various facts about North Sentinel Island:

• Sentinelese people remain untouched with the modern civilisation
• The population is getting reduced every year and this will result in loss of a scheduled tribe
• The island and 3 km surrounding the island are marked as an exclusion zone
• Sentinelese people kill everyone violently who visits them

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