North Sentinel Island

North Sentinel Island: Recently, a man was arrested in Andaman and Nicobar Islands for allegedly entering the prohibited tribal reserve area of North Sentinel Island.

• About: North Sentinel Island is a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

o Declared a protected area by the Indian government to preserve the Sentinelese tribe’s autonomy and shield them from potential diseases.

o Entire North Sentinel Island and 5 km of coastal sea from the high-water mark is notified as a tribal reserve.

• About Sentinelese Tribe: They are one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world, known for their isolation and hostility towards outsiders.

o Hunt, gather in the rainforest, and fish in coastal waters for survival.

o Vigorously reject all contact with outsiders and have been known to greet visitors with spears and arrows.

o Believed to be connected to the Jarawa tribe based on physical and linguistic similarities.

o Carbon dating by the Anthropological Survey of India confirmed their presence on the island 2,000 years ago, while genome studies suggest Andaman tribes may have lived there for 30,000 years.

• Protection Laws for the Sentinelese Tribe: A&N Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956.