Mapping
Lakshadweep
Context: The Kerala High Court ruled that traditional cowledars holding pandaram land before the 1965 Regulation are lawful landowners, quashing arbitrary resumption orders.
About Lakshadweep:
What It Is?
- Lakshadweep (meaning “one hundred thousand islands” in Sanskrit and Malayalam) is India’s smallest Union Territory. It is a uni-district coral archipelago comprising 36 islands, of which 10 are inhabited, spread across a land area of just 32.62 sq km. It falls under the judicial jurisdiction of the Kerala High Court.
Location:
- Located in the Arabian Sea / Laccadive Sea, about 220–440 km off the southwestern Malabar Coast of Kerala.
- Kavaratti, which serves as the principal town and administrative headquarters of the single-district Union Territory.
How It Was Formed?
- Lakshadweep’s islands are coral atolls that developed as the northernmost exposed peaks of the submarine Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a volcanic hotspot ridge in the Indian Ocean.
- Over millions of years, as volcanic seamounts gradually submerged, coral polyps built massive calcium carbonate reef structures around their rims, eventually forming the low-lying, ring-shaped coral atolls enclosing shallow lagoons seen today.
Key Features of Lakshadweep:
- Three Distinct Geographic Sub-Groups:
- Amindivi Islands: The northernmost group (Amini, Chetlat, Kadmat, Kiltan, Bitra).
- Laccadive Islands: The central group (Androth, Kalpeni, Kavaratti, Agatti, Bangaram), separated from Amindivi by roughly the 11th parallel north.
- Minicoy Island: The southernmost isolated atoll, separated from the northern groups by the Nine Degree Channel.
- Extensive Marine Realm vs. Tiny Landmass: While its dry land area is only 32.62 sq km with 132 km of coastline, it encompasses 4,200 sq km of calm lagoons, 20,000 sq km of territorial waters, and a vast 400,000 sq km Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- Linguistic & Cultural Plurality: The indigenous population is classified predominantly as Scheduled Tribes (ST). The native language across northern/central islands is Jeseri, whereas the people of Minicoy speak Mahl/Dhivehi and follow traditional matrilineal customs (Marumakkathayam).
- Primary Economic Drivers: The island economy relies primarily on coconut cultivation/copra processing, marine tuna pole-and-line fishing, and controlled eco-tourism.
