From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a union territory of India. They lie in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal. The Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying to the north, and the Nicobars to the south. The capital of this territory is the city of Port Blair.
The name Andaman comes from Handuman which is Malay for the Hindu god ''Hanuman.
The islands were captured by the Marathas in the 17th century. The British occupied it until the Japanese took over during World War II. It became an Indian territory with India's independence in 1947.
The British used the islands as an isolated prison for freedom fighters of the Indian independence movement. The imprisonment was called Kalapani.
