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Nancowry Island
Native name: Mūöt Nickname: Nankovri
	Nancowry Island Nancowry Island
Geography
Location	Bay of Bengal
Coordinates	7°59′N 93°33′E / 7.98°N 93.55°E
Archipelago	Nicobar Islands
Adjacent to	Indian Ocean
Area	47 km2 (18 sq mi)
Length	11.2 km (6.96 mi)
Width	7.5 km (4.66 mi)
Coastline	47 km (29.2 mi)
Highest elevation	162 m (531 ft)
Administration
	India
District	Nicobar
Island group	Nicobar Islands
Subdivisions of India	Nancowry Subdivision
Taluk	Nancowry tehsil
Largest settlement	Mayo (Malacca) Point (pop. 516)
Demographics
Population	1019 (2011)
Pop. density	21.7/km2 (56.2/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Hindu, Nicobarese
Additional information
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30);
PIN	744301
Telephone code	03192
ISO code	IN-AN-00
Official website	www.and.nic.in
Literacy	84.4%
Avg. summer temperature	32.0 °C (89.6 °F)
Avg. winter temperature	28.0 °C (82.4 °F)
Sex ratio	♂/♀
Census Code	35.638.0002
Official Languages	Hindi, English, Tamil ; Nancowry (regional)

Nancowry (Nancowry language: Mūöt, Hindi: नन्कोव्री Nankovrī) is an island in the central part of the Nicobar Islands chain, located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

History

In 1755, the government of Denmark formally claimed sovereignty over Nicobars, under the name of Frederiksøerne ("Frederik Islands") and encouraged a mission established by the Moravian Brethren of Herrnhut. The Danes established a short-lived colony on the island which they named Ny Sjælland ("New Zealand").^[3]

Along with Kamorta Island, which lies just to the north, Nancowry Island forms the "magnificent land-locked" Nancowry Harbour,^[4] used by European sailors since at least the 17th century and described as "one of the safest natural harbours in the world" ([2]). The harbour was apparently used as a base for piracy; in 1868, the British Navy entered the harbour in some force, destroying suspected pirate ships.^[5]^[6]^[7]

2004 tsunami

The island, like many others in the Nicobar and Andaman islands, was severely affected by tsunamis generated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. According to reports from the Andaman and Nicobar Inspector General of Police, S.B. Deol, the Nancowry group of islands were among the worst-hit islands in the chain, with thousands missing and presumed dead.^[8] Post-tsunami satellite photos,^[9]^[10] and government situation reports indicate that while portions of Nancowry Island were affected, the adjoining islands of Katchall and Kamorta were more severely overrun. As of January 18, 2005, the government reported only 1 dead and 3 missing from Nancowry island, but 51 dead and 387 missing from Kamorta, and 345 dead and 4310 missing from Katchall.^[11]

Demography

As of the 2011 Indian census, there are 1019 persons living on Nancowry island.^[12]

Geography

Nancowry Island has an area of 47 km², and located 160 km south-southeast of Car Nicobar, the northernmost Nicobar island. Nancowry, like the Nicobar islands generally, is under the sovereignty of the nation of India. It is also part of the Nicobar and Andaman Tribal Reserve Area, which bars non-native people from visiting or conducting business on the island without permission in hopes of preserving the threatened native communities that live there.^[13]

Climate

Climate data for Nancowry Island (1981–2010, extremes 1952–2012)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	34.4 (93.9)	36.4 (97.5)	35.6 (96.1)	39.2 (102.6)	38.6 (101.5)	34.1 (93.4)	32.7 (90.9)	33.0 (91.4)	34.7 (94.5)	36.2 (97.2)	34.1 (93.4)	36.0 (96.8)	39.2 (102.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	31.3 (88.3)	31.9 (89.4)	32.5 (90.5)	32.8 (91.0)	31.4 (88.5)	30.5 (86.9)	30.1 (86.2)	30.0 (86.0)	29.9 (85.8)	30.2 (86.4)	30.5 (86.9)	30.9 (87.6)	31.0 (87.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	24.2 (75.6)	24.5 (76.1)	24.7 (76.5)	25.0 (77.0)	24.7 (76.5)	24.8 (76.6)	24.6 (76.3)	24.5 (76.1)	24.1 (75.4)	24.0 (75.2)	24.0 (75.2)	24.1 (75.4)	24.4 (75.9)
Record low °C (°F)	18.4 (65.1)	19.0 (66.2)	18.2 (64.8)	19.6 (67.3)	18.9 (66.0)	19.2 (66.6)	19.2 (66.6)	19.0 (66.2)	17.8 (64.0)	18.6 (65.5)	18.8 (65.8)	18.7 (65.7)	17.8 (64.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	69.8 (2.75)	52.8 (2.08)	52.1 (2.05)	98.3 (3.87)	317.5 (12.50)	242.1 (9.53)	233.5 (9.19)	208.3 (8.20)	264.3 (10.41)	276.2 (10.87)	313.0 (12.32)	193.4 (7.61)	2,321.3 (91.39)
Average rainy days	4.5	3.0	3.2	6.2	14.3	12.7	13.3	12.5	14.3	14.3	14.5	9.0	121.7
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST)	80	79	78	79	84	84	84	84	86	86	86	82	83
Source: India Meteorological Department^[14]^[15]