North Sentinel Island
2009 NASA image of North Sentinel Island; the island's protective fringe of coral reefs can be seen clearly.
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 North Sentinel Island
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bay of Bengal |
| Coordinates | 11°33′25″N 92°14′28″E / 11.557°N 92.241°ECoordinates: 11°33′25″N 92°14′28″E / 11.557°N 92.241°E |
| Archipelago |
Andaman Islands (Sentinel Islands) |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Indian Ocean |
| Total islands | 5 |
| Major islands |
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| Area | 59.67 km2 (23.04 sq mi) |
| Length | 7.8 km (4.85 mi) |
| Width | 7.0 km (4.35 mi) |
| Coastline | 31.6 km (19.64 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 122 m (400 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Union territory | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| District | South Andaman |
| Tehsil | Port Blair Tehsil |
| Demographics | |
| Demonym | North Sentinelese |
| Population | 39 (2011) |
| Pop. density | 5.00 /km2 (12.95 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Sentinelese |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| PIN | 744202 |
| Telephone code | 031927 |
| Official website | www |
| ISO Code | IN-AN-00 |
| Literacy | 0.0% |
| Avg. summer temperature | 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) |
| Avg. winter temperature | 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) |
| Sex ratio | 1♂/♀ |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| Census Code | 35.639.0004 |
North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. The island belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
North Sentinel, a part of the Sentinel Islands, lies 36 kilometres (22 mi) west of the town of Wandoor in South Andaman Island, 50 km (31 mi) west of Port Blair, and 59.6 kilometres (37.0 mi) north of its counterpart South Sentinel Island. It has an area of about 47.5 km2 (18.3 sq mi) and a roughly square outline.
North Sentinel is surrounded by coral reefs, and lacks natural harbours. The entire island, other than the reefs, is forested. There is a narrow beach encircling the island, behind which the ground rises 20 m (66 ft), and then gradually to between 46 m (150 ft) and 122 m (400 ft) near the centre. Reefs extend around the island to between 800 and 1,290 metres (0.5–0.8 mi) from the shore. A forested islet, Constance Island, also "Constance Islet", is located about 600 metres (2,000 ft) off the southeast coastline, at the edge of the reef.
The 2004 earthquake tilted the tectonic plate under the island, lifting it by 1 to 2 metres (3 to 7 ft). Large tracts of the surrounding coral reefs were exposed and became permanently dry land or shallow lagoons, extending all the island's boundaries – by as much as 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) on the west and south sides – and uniting Constance Island with the main island.
The Onge were aware of North Sentinel Island's existence and their traditional name for it is Chia daaKwokweyeh. They also have strong cultural similarities with what little has been remotely observed amongst the Sentinelese. However, Onge who were brought there by the British during the 19th century could not understand the language, so a significant period of separation is likely.
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Wikipedia