Никобар аралдары: географиясы, тарихы және биосфералық қорықтары

Island group in the Indian Ocean

The Nicobar Islands /'//n//I//k//@//b//ɑːr/ are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian subcontinent, across the Bay of Bengal, they are part of India, as the Nicobar district within the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Together with the Andaman Islands to their north, the Nicobar Islands serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. UNESCO has declared the Great Nicobar Island as one of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the Indo Australian Plate with Eurasia. The collision lifted the Himalayas and most of the Indonesian islands, and created a long arc of highlands and islands, which includes the Arakan Yoma range of Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and the islands off the west coast of Sumatra, including the Banyak Islands and the Mentawai Islands.

The climate is warm and tropical, with temperatures ranging from Rainfall is heavy due to annual monsoons and measures around each year. Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve has a total area of The core area of comprises Cambell Bay and Galathea National Parks. A buffer area of includes lands adjacent to and between the two parks. There is also a transitional area of , including .|align=right
The islands had a population of 36,842 in 2011. The indigenous ethnic groups are the Nicobarese and the Shompen. Local languages include Shompen and the languages of the tin Nicobarese group.

The Nicobar Islands are believed to have been inhabited for thousands of years. Six indigenous Nicobarese languages are spoken on the islands, which are part of the Austroasiatic language family, which includes the Mon, Khmer, and Vietnamese languages of Southeast Asia, and the Munda languages of India. An indigenous tribe living at the southern tip of Great Nicobar called the Shompen, may be of Mesolithic Southeast Asian origin.

The earliest extant references to the name "Nicobar" is in the Sri Lankan Pali Buddhist chronicles, the Dipavamsa (c. 3rd or 4th century CE) and the Mahavamsa (c. 4th or 5th century), which state that the children of the followers of the legendary founder of the Sri Lankan Kingdom, Vijaya, landed on Naggadipa (the island of the children, from the Pali nagga meaning 'naked'). In the ninth century, the Persian explorer Abū Zayd al Sīrāfī referred to the Nicobar Islands as Lanjabālūs. The modern name is likely derived from the Chola dynasty name for the islands, Nakkavaram (may be referring to open/naked land or naked man's land in Tamil) which is inscribed on the Thanjavur (Tanjore) inscription of 1050 CE. Marco Polo (12th 13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann'. In the 15th century, Great Nicobar Island was recorded as "Cui Lan island" (翠蘭嶼) during the voyages of Zheng He in the Mao Kun map of the Wu Bei Zhi.

On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Nicobar Islands was devastated by a tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. At least 6,000 people were killed on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with reports putting the death toll on Katchal Island alone at 4,600. Several islands were heavily damaged with initial reports of islands broken in two or three pieces and coral reefs moved above water. Teressa Island was said to have been split into two pieces and Trinkat Island into three pieces. Some estimates said that the islands were moved as much as 100 feet (30 m) by the earthquake and tilted. Indira Point subsided and the lighthouse there was damaged.

Airport: Car Nicobar CBD/VECX has an airstrip on Car Nicobar Air Force Base of on the South East coast near Malacca but does not offer commercial service. Great Nicobar has a small airstrip of approximately at Campbell Bay/Tenlaa on its East Coast. Seaport: At least one small shipping dock is located in Campbell Bay on the East coast of Great Nicobar. Car Nicobar has a small dock at its Northern tip near Keating Point and Mus.