Nicobarese people

Nicobarese
Total population
29,099[1]
Regions with significant populations
Nicobar Islands,  India
Languages
Nicobarese languages
Religion
predominantly Christianity, others inc. animism
Related ethnic groups
Shompen people
Austroasiatic people

The Nicobarese people are an Austroasiatic-speaking people of the Nicobar Islands, a chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal north of Sumatra, forming part of the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The Nicobar Archipelago consists of 19 islands, and only 12 of them are inhabited. These inhabited islands are Car Nicobar, Chowra, Bompoka, Teressa, Nancowry, Pullomillow, Great Nicobar, Camorta, Katchal, Trinket, Kondul, and Little Nicobar [1]. The largest and main island is Great Nicobar. The term "Nicobarese" refers to the dominant tribes of the Nicobar Islands and are most significant tribal population in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to their large numbers and the very wide area they occupy as compared to all the Andaman tribes put together.[2] Each island's inhabitants have specific names, but collectively they are known as the Nicobarese. They call themselves "Holchu," which means "friend." The life of the Nicobarese revolves around nature. The socio-economic conditions of the people of Nancowry islands play an important role in the religious practices and social life of the Nicobarese community.[3]

The Nicobarese are a designated Scheduled Tribe in India.[4]

A group of Nicobarese dancers
  1. ^ CENSUS OF INDIA 2011. "LANGUAGE" (PDF). Government of India. p. 20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Tyagi, Renu; Dhall, Meenal; Kapoor, Anup Kumar. "Aging and Health Challenges of Tribal Population: An Empirical Study Among Car Nicobarese of Nicobar Island of India". The Oriental Anthropologist: A Bi-annual International Journal of the Science of Man. 23 (1).
  3. ^ Kumar, Shrawan (1985). "The people of Nancowry Island: Their changing condition". Human Science. 34: 138–145.
  4. ^ "List of notified Scheduled Tribes" (PDF). Census India. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.