Boats of Lakshadweep and Minicoy

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep comprises ten inhabited islands of the Amindivi, Lakshadweep and Minicoy groups ( Map. 11.1 ) and 17 other uninhabited islands and a number of sunken banks, reefs and emerging banks, between 8 deg. and 12 deg. 30 min N latitudes and 71 deg. and 74 deg. E longitudes in the Arabian Sea. The islands lie west of Kerala and Karnataka coasts separated by the Lakshadweep Sea. They lie at a distance of 200 to 400 km. west of the coast. The islands are mostly coral atolls, 1 to 4 sq.km. in area on an average. They lie atop the northern end of the 2500 km. long Chagos-Maldives-Lakshadweep submarine ridge of the central Indian Ocean. The ridge is separated from the Malabar-Karnataka coast and shelf by the Lakshadweep Sea at a depth of 2000 to 2700m.