Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are an archipelago of roughly 200 islands in the northeastern Indian Ocean, about 130 kilometers southwest of Myanmar, spanning 6,408 square kilometers. Most of the islands form the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India, while a few, including the Coco Islands and Preparis Island, belong to Myanmar. The islands are built from Late Jurassic to Early Eocene ophiolites and sedimentary rocks cut by ultramafic igneous intrusions, shaped by deep faults and thrusts, and the group includes mud volcanoes and two volcanic islands, Narcondam and Barren Island, the latter the only active volcano in the Indian subcontinent. The islands sit between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea and are home to indigenous Andamanese peoples and distinctive endemic wildlife.