Interview Island is an island of the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative

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 ...

, part of the

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 ...

n union territory of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

. It lies north of

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

History

The

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the island was affected by the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

generated by the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

which inundated much of its area. The lighthouse was reported as "completely destroyed" at the time, but it was later repaired. Until 2015 there was a wildlife station to monitor birds, with permanent inhabitants located on the west coast near the lighthouse. The station is also staffed with a lighthouse keeper (from the police). It was evacuated at the end of 2015 due to budget being discontinued.

Geography

The island belongs to the

Interview Group The Interview Islands is a group of islands located in Austin Harbour and Interview sound. These islands belong to the Andaman Islands. They belong to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of ...

and is situated to the west of

Austen Strait Austen is surname deriving from the Latin ''Augustine'', and first used around the 13th century. Notable people with the surname *Abigail Austen (born 1964), British Army officer *Alice Austen (1866–1952), American photographer * Augusta Amh ...

which separates

North Andaman Island North Andaman Island is the northern island of Great Andaman of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman district, North and Middle Andaman administrative Districts of India, district, part of the Indian union territory o ...

and

Middle Andaman Island Middle Andaman Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Geography The island belongs to the Great Andam ...

. It has an area of . The island is low at its north end, but rises gradually to a height of . The highest part of the island is a wooded plateau. A rocky pinnacle, high, lies close off a cliff on the south end of the island. Foul ground extends about north-northease from the island.

Fauna

The island has about 80-90 feral

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

which were brought for forestry works, and still remain on this island.

Administration

Politically, Interview Island, along with the neighbouring

of islands, is part of

Mayabunder Mayabunder is a town and a tehsil in the northern part of Middle Andaman Island, Andaman Archipelago, India. The name is also spelled Maya Bunder or Maya Bandar. As of 2001, the county had 23,912 inhabitants, of which 3182 were in the town.Gove ...

Taluk 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 ...

, a sub-district of

Transportation

Travel to the island is by

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

through

from

, taking 3 hours.

Demographics

There is only one village, located at the eastern part of the island. According to the

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, the island has one households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 100%. The island was opened to tourists in the year 1997, it is entirely abandoned. Just a few forest wardens, policemen and coast guards are posted here in order to keep poachers at a safe distance.guide
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References

* www.andamanicobarisland.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Interview Island Cities and towns in North and Middle Andaman district Islands of North and Middle Andaman district Islands of the Bay of Bengal Tourist attractions in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands