Nicobar Islands

Nicobar Islands, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, forming with the Andamans, to the south of which group they lie, an extension of the great island chain of which Java and Sumatra are the principal links. Just a score in number, of which twelve are inhabited, they consist of two divisions—the northern, low and planted with coconut trees, and the southern, mountainous (2000 feet) and covered with timber. Malaria prevails nearly all the year round; the temperature seldom moves outside the limits 80°–85° F. The people belong to two races, an inland tribe, little civilised, who show Mongolian affinities and are regarded as indigenous, and the coast people, about 6000 in number, who are of mixed Malay blood, but idle and lazy. They collect and export trepang and edible birds' nests. The archipelago was occupied by Denmark from 1756 to 1856. In 1869 it was annexed by Britain, to put a stop to the piracy of the people. A penal colony for India exists at Nankauri on the island Kamorta (see map at BURMA).