North Sentinel Island

One island that probably won't be activated in the very near future is North Sentinel Island, which is one of the Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal.  It lies to the west of the southern part of South Andaman Island.  Most of the island is forested.  Because it is small, located away from the main settlements on Great Andaman, surrounded by coral reefs, and lacks natural harbours, it was never settled by Europeans.


A group of indigenous people, the Sentinelese, live on North Sentinel Island. Their present numbers are estimated to be between 50 and 400 individuals.

They reject any contact with other people, and are among the last people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization.


On 2 August 1981, the ship Primrose grounded on the North Sentinel Island reef.  A few days later, crewmen on the immobile vessel observed that small black men were carrying spears and arrows and building boats on the beach. The captain of the Primrose radioed for an urgent airdrop of firearms so the crew could defend themselves, but did not receive them.  Heavy seas kept the islanders away from the ship.  After a week, the crew were rescued by an Indian navy helicopter.

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