Laccadive Islands Cannanore Islands |
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The Laccadive subgroup on a 1800 map.
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Country | India |
State | Lakshadweep |
District | Lakshadweep |
Area | |
• Total | 17.5 km2 (6.8 sq mi) |
Languages | |
• Official | Malayalam |
Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Vehicle registration | LD |
The Laccadive Islands or Cannanore Islands are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the central subgroup of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Amindivi Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north and from the atoll of Minicoy (Maliku) —far to the south— by the 9 Degree or Mamala Channel.
Formerly the Union Territory of Lakshadweep was known as Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, a name that was changed to Lakshadweep by an act of Parliament in 1973.
The Laccadive subgroup had been known earlier as the "Cannanore Islands" after the coastal town of Cannanore (Kannur). The name originated in the fact that while the northern group of Amindivi had stopped in 1784 being a vassal state of the Cannanore Kingdom (Arakkal) in exchange for fealty to Tippu Sultan's Kingdom of Mysore, the southern group remained loyal to Cannanore.
The Laccadive subgroup includes the island of Agatti, with Agatti Aerodrome, the only airport in Lakshadweep, as well as Bangaram Atoll which has a tourist resort in Bangaram, its largest island.
The Laccadive group forms two talukas or subdivisions: Androth, with a population of 15,048 and Kavaratti with 17,193. The islands of Agatti, Androth, Kavaratti and Kalpeni are inhabited. Islam is the main religion of the islanders.