Laccadives (Sansk. Laksha Dwipa, 'the Hundred Thousand Islands'), a group of fourteen coral islands in the Arabian Sea, between 10° and
14° N. lat., and about 200 miles W. of the Malabar coast. Area, 744 sq. m.; pop. (1891) 14,440. They are low and flat, and all but two are comparatively barren. The cocoa-nut is the chief plant, and coir (cocoa-nut fibre) the staple product. This and jaggery, cocoa-nuts, copra, tortoise-shell, and cowries are carried over to the mainland by the men, who are brave and skilful sailors. The number of large boats owned in the islands is 184, of small craft 719; the annual exports average about £17,000. The group was discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1499. The northern islands are attached to the Madras district of South Kanara; the rest belong to the rajah of Cannanore, but since 1877 have been administered by the collector of Malabar. The people are Mohammedans of Hindu descent, their language Malayalam, except in Minikoi, which properly belongs to the Maldive group and retains its language.