, native_name_link = malayalam , native_name_lang = , sobriquet = ബലിയഫന്ന്യം , image_name = , image_size = , image_caption = , image_alt = , map_alt = , map_width = , map = India , map_caption = Location of Cherbaniani Atoll in

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep (), also known as Laccadives (), is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian sea, located off the Malabar Coast. The name ''Lakshadweep'' means "one lakh islands" in Sanskrit, though the Lac ...

, coordinates = , etymology = , location =

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

, island_type =

Atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

, archipelago =

, waterbody =

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, total_islands = 3 , major_islands = , area_km2 = 0.015 , area_footnotes = , rank = , length_km = , width_km = , coastline_km = , elevation_m = 2 , highest_mount = , country = , country_admin_divisions_title =

Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, country_admin_divisions = Union territory of

, country_admin_divisions_title_1 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, country_admin_divisions_1 =

, country_admin_divisions_title_2 =

Island group An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, country_admin_divisions_2 =

Aminidivi The Aminidivi Islands, are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the northern group of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Laccadive Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north. The total ...

, country_admin_divisions_title_3 =

Tehsils of India India uses a plethora of terms to denote the large number of Subdistrict, subdistricts across its States and union territories of India, 28 states and 8 union territories. The most commonly used term, prevalent across states in North India and ...

, country_admin_divisions_3 =

, country_admin_divisions_title_4 =

Subdivisions of India The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level ...

, country_admin_divisions_4 =

Bitra Bitra, also known as Bitrā Par, is a coral atoll belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. It is west of the city of Kochi. History Prior to the 20th century, is ...

, population = 0 , population_as_of = 2014 , population_footnotes = , population_rank = , population_rank_max = , density_km2 = 0 , density_rank = , density_footnotes = , ethnic_groups =

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...

Mahls Mahl people refers to an ethnic group of India (i.e., people of Minicoy and migrant communities from Minicoy islands ). They speak the Mahl dialect of Divehi which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages. All Mahls are nativ ...

, timezone1 =

IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

, utc_offset1 = +5:30 , timezone1_DST = , utc_offset1_DST = , postal_code_type =

PIN A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch de ...

, postal_code = , area_code_type = Telephone code , area_code = , website = , iso_code_type = ISO code , iso_code = IN-LD-01 , additional_info = Cherbaniani Reef, also known as Beleapani Reef ( ml, Valiyapanniyam), is a

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

belonging to the

Amindivi The Aminidivi Islands, are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the northern group of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Laccadive Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north. The total ...

Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It has a distance of south of the city of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Geography

Cherbaniani Reef is located 33 km north of

Byramgore Reef Byramgore Reef, also known as Chereapani Reef ( ml, Cheriyapanniyam), is a coral atoll belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It has a distance of south of the city of Delhi. Geography Byr ...

and at it is the northwesternmost feature of Lakshadweep. The atoll has a roughly oval shape and was first described by ornithologist Allan Hume in 1876; its total lagoon area is . The 14 km long coral reef that encloses the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

has three small uninhabited islands on it.

Ecology

They are composed of accumulated

coral sand Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

, shingle, cuttle-bones and

sea shell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

s. There are many land

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an a ...

s under the boulders and among the detritus. The atoll used to be a breeding ground for

pelagic bird The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

s, including the

sooty tern The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...

(''Sterna fuliginosa'') and

brown noddy The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...

(''Anous stolidus''), which were formerly found in great numbers.

Demographics

North Islet has a small mosque built and maintained by local fishermen from

Chetlat Chetlat Island is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago in India. It has a distance of west of the city of Kochi. History Local history says that islanders were cruelly treated by Portuguese ...

Kiltan Kiltan or Kilthān Island is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. It is at a distance of 291 km away from Kannur, 303 km away from Kozhikode, and west of the city ...

and

Agatti Agatti Island is a 7.6 km long island, situated on a coral atoll called Agatti atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is west of the city of Kochi. Geography Agatti is located about 364 km off Kannur, 394 km off ...

islands. The fishermen came here and camp for fishing in a seasonal manner during the period between both

monsoons A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

Economics

Lakshadweep islanders from

and

sometimes visit the islands to collect

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

for the gardens of the inhabited islands, gathering eggs, dumping garbage and disturbing the nestlings of pelagic birds in the process. The beaches are strewn with

marine litter Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing ...

composed mainly of oceanic

flotsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the rema ...

deposited by currents, such as plastic bottles, glass bulbs, polystyrene foam and cans.

Administration

The Atoll belongs to the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Image gallery

File:Lakshadweep.jpg, Satellite picture showing the atolls of the Lakshadweep except for

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory of ...

File:Map of Lakshadweep-en.svg, Map

References

External links

*
Hydrographic Description (Indian Ocean Pilot)Lagoon sizesSeamount Catalog - Cherbaniani Reef SeamountList of AtollsSources towards a history of the Laccadive IslandsAn ornithological expedition to the Lakshadweep archipelago
{{Lakshadweep Landforms of Lakshadweep Atolls of India Islands of Lakshadweep Important Bird Areas of Lakshadweep Islands of India Uninhabited islands of India