Editing Ritchie's Archipelago

{{Short description|Part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox islands
| name                    = Ritchie's Archipelago
| native_name      = 
| native_name_link = 
| native_name_lang = 
| sobriquet        = John Ritchie's Archipelago
| image_name       = 
| image_size       = 
| image_caption    = 
| image_alt        = 
| map              = India Andaman and Nicobar Islands#India
| map_alt          = 
| map_width        = 
| map_caption      = 
| coordinates      = {{coord|12.05|N|93.02|E|region:IN-AN_type:isle_dim:50000_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}}
| etymology        = 
| location         = [[Bay of Bengal]]
| archipelago      = [[Andaman Islands]]
| waterbody        = [[Indian Ocean]]
| total_islands    = 20
| major_islands    = {{hlist|[[Swaraj Island]]|[[Henry Lawrence Island]]|[[John Lawrence Island]]| [[Sir William Peel Island]]| [[Shaheed Island]]}}
| area_km2         = 252.1
| area_footnotes   = <ref name="cit">{{cite web|url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf|title=Islandwise Area and Population - 2011 Census|publisher=Government of Andaman}}</ref>
| rank             = 
| length_km        = 
| width_km         = 
| coastline_km     = 
| elevation_m      = 216
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="nga">{{cite enroute|173|2017|283}}</ref>
| highest_mount    = Round Hill, Wilson Island
| country          = {{flag|India}}
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[List of districts in India#Andaman and Nicobar (AN)|District]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[South Andaman district|South Andaman]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1   = [[Island group]]
| country_admin_divisions_1         = [[Andaman Islands]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_3    = [[Tehsils of India|Tehsil]]
| country_admin_divisions_3          = Ritchie's Archipelago Tehsil
| country_largest_city = Govinda Nagar
| population       = 9355
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_footnotes = 
| population_rank = 
| population_rank_max = 
| density_km2      = 37.1
| density_rank     =
| density_footnotes = 
| ethnic_groups    = [[Hindu]], [[Andamanese peoples|Andamanese]]
| timezone1        = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1      = +5:30
| timezone1_DST    = 
| utc_offset1_DST  = 
| postal_code_type        = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code             = 7442xx<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.india-codes.com/pincodes/a-n-islands-pin-code |title=A&N Islands - Pincodes |date=22 September 2016 |accessdate=22 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323224041/http://www.india-codes.com/pincodes/a-n-islands-pin-code |archivedate=23 March 2014 }}</ref>
| area_code_type          = Telephone code
| area_code               = 031927<ref name="allcodesindia">{{cite web|url=http://allcodesindia.in/stdcode/andaman+and+nicobar.php |publisher=allcodesindia.in|title=STD Codes of Andaman and Nicobar|accessdate=2016-09-23}}</ref>
| website          = {{URL|http://www.and.nic.in/}}
| iso_code_type = [[ISO 3166-2:IN|ISO code]]
| iso_code      = IN-AN-00<ref>Registration Plate Numbers added to ISO Code</ref>
|additional_info  = {{Infobox|child=yes
| label2 = Literacy | data2 = 84.4%
| label3 = Avg. summer temperature| data3 ={{convert|30.2|°C|°F}}
| label4 = Avg. winter temperature| data4 ={{convert|23.0|°C|°F}}
| label5 = [[Human sex ratio|Sex ratio]]| data5 =1.2[[male|♂]]/[[female|♀]]
| label7 = Census Code| data7 = 35.639.0004
| label8 = Official Languages| data8 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[English language|English]]
}}
}}
'''Ritchie's Archipelago''' is a cluster of smaller islands which lie {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} east of [[Great Andaman]], the main island group of the [[Andaman Islands]]. 
The Islands belong to the [[South Andaman district|South Andaman]] administrative [[Districts of India|district]], part of the [[India]]n [[union territory]] of [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].<ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-VillageDirectory/Directory/short_code_rural_35.pdf|title=Village Code Directory: Andaman & Nicobar Islands|publisher=Census of India|accessdate=2011-01-16}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The archipelago is named after an 18th-century [[British Empire|British]] [[marine surveyor]], [[John Ritchie (marine surveyor)|John Ritchie]], who spent nearly two decades in the employ of the Council of Bengal charting and documenting the Andaman's and surrounding regions.  The individual islands are largely named after British generals and civil officials serving in India at the time of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].

Of the archipelago which now bears his name, Ritchie's accounts and maps were the first reliable sources of information on the islands, which until then were very sketchily known to Europeans. Ritchie was one who championed that the [[British Raj|British administration in India]] make further investigation and use of the Andamans. During Ritchie's time these entreaties were largely ignored. Perhaps frustrated and disillusioned after years of thankless work under difficult circumstances, Ritchie requested to be returned for home leave, which he was in 1787. An extract from his parting note to his superiors explained:

<blockquote>''"The condition of my health being such as requires an immediate change of climate... after a series of 19 years continuous service in the office of Marine Surveyor, I hope there is no impropriety in my requesting the favour, also... to continue my allowance to me... It is a small salary, and the receipt of it has been the only advantage I have ever reaped from the Company's service, and because my Line of Service, from its singularity, has had no gradation of advancement... whilst its Duties have been uncommonly severe, uncommonly hazardous, and equally unprofitable; for what advantage could be obtained from tracking a Labyrinth of Woods and Rivers? Or from exploring the Shoals of a shelving and broken Sea Coast? All of which uninhabited, and seldom visited, except perhaps in the disastrous case of shipwreck... In the meantime it has been from my Labours, that the Hon'ble Company have obtained all authentic knowledge of the Sea Coast and Tide Rivers of their possessions in Bengal, together with other services more important and beneficial."''<ref>Ritchie overstates the "uninhabited" nature of the islands, since he was well aware of the existence of the indigenous tribes, and had spent some time in the company and direct presence of several of them</ref></blockquote>

Two years after Ritchie's departure, an attempt was made to set up a colony in the Andamans, but this was aborted after only a few years. It was not until 1867 that a permanent European presence was established, when the whole islands were [[annexation|annexed]] by the British and a [[penal colony]] established at [[Ross Island, South Andaman district|Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island]] (Ross Island) on [[South Andaman Island]].

==Geography==
The islands are located in the [[Bay of Bengal]], bordering with the [[Andaman Sea]] and are some {{convert|400|km|abbr=on}} south of the nearest [[Asia]]n mainland, [[Cape Negrais]] in [[Myanmar]].
The [[archipelago]] comprises 4 larger islands, 3 medium islands, and 10 smaller islands and [[islet]]s, extending in a roughly north–south chain, parallel to the main Great Andaman group. [[Baratang|Baratang Island]] and [[South Andaman Island]] lie to the west across [[Diligent Strait]]; the active [[volcano]] [[Barren Island (Andaman Islands)|Barren Island]] is {{convert|85|km|abbr=on}} further to the east.

The islands of Ritchie's Archipelago run in a closely spaced arc which extends about {{convert|60|km|abbr=on}} from the southernmost [[Rose Island (Andaman)|Rose Island]]. to [[North Button Island National Park|North Button I.]], with [[Diligent Strait]] between them and Great Andaman ranging from {{convert|30|km|abbr=on}} to less than {{convert|10|km|abbr=on}}. Most of the islands are clustered closely together separated by only narrow, almost river-like channels. The exceptions are [[Rose Island (Andaman)|Rose Island]] and [[Neill Island]] to the south of [[Havelock Island]], and the three small [[Button Islands (Andaman Islands)|Button Islands]] which are smaller outliers to the north of the group.

The interior of most of the islands consists of undulating hills and plains, with a [[topography]] generally not exceeding {{convert|100|m|abbr=on}} [[above mean sea level]]. [[Wilson Island (Ritchie's Archipelago)|Wilson Island]] rises to 216 m.<ref name="nga" /> Occasionally the land rises reasonably abruptly from the sea to a domed plateau, and there are a few rocky coastal cliffs; however, in the main the coastlines are relatively flat, interspersed by both rocky and sand beaches and some low-lying [[lagoon]]s and [[estuary|estuaries]] on the larger islands. [[Coral reef]]s surround many of the islands, particularly on the "sea-ward" (i.e., eastern) coastlines.

Havelock, John Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, Peel and Outram islands have a few [[creek (tidal)|tidal creeks]] winding into their interiors; in general freshwater [[stream]]s are few.

===Islands===
The main islands in the archipelago are:
* '''[[Havelock Island|Swaraj Dweep]] (Havelock Island)''' - {{convert|92.2|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Sir William Peel Island]] (Peel Island) - {{convert|23.7|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Nicholson Island (Ritchie's Archipelago)|Nicholson Island]]
* [[Wilson Island (Ritchie's Archipelago)|Wilson Island]] - {{convert|14.3|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[John Lawrence Island]] - {{convert|34.8|km2|abbr=on}}, formerly inhabited
* [[Henry Lawrence Island]] - {{convert|54.7|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Inglis Island (Ritchie's Archipelago)|Inglis Island]]
* [[Outram Island]] - {{convert|13.9|km2|abbr=on}}
* '''[[Neil Island|Shaheed Dweep]] (Neil Island)''' - {{convert|13.7|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Sir Hugh Rose Island]] (Rose Island)
* [[Button Islands (Andaman Islands)|Button Islands]] (North Button Island, Middle Mutton Island and South Button Island)

==Administration==
Politically, Ritchie's Archipelago is part of [[Port Blair tehsil|Port Blair]] [[Tehsils of India|Taluk]].<ref name="and">{{cite web|url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf |publisher=andssw1.and.nic.in|title=DEMOGRAPHIC – A&N ISLANDS |accessdate=2016-09-23}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
The islands were originally populated by the indigenous [[Great Andamanese]] peoples, in particular the tribal and linguistic grouping known as [[Aka-Bale]]. However, as the populations of the various Andamanese indigenous peoples declined greatly in the decades following the establishment of [[colonialism|colonial]] settlements by the [[British Raj]] (and later, independent [[India]]), the indigenous communities of these islands have vanished. The present population of the islands consists of immigrant [[Demographics of India|Indian]] and a few [[Karen people|Karen (Burmese)]] settlers.
The 2011 census of India reported 9,355 people living on two inhabited islands of Ritchie's Archipelago: [[Havelock Island]] and [[Neill Island]].

==Transportation==
[[Port Blair]], is located approximately {{convert|40|km|abbr=on}} to the southwest of the archipelago, accessible via a 3-5 hour ferry trip.

==Image gallery==
<gallery widths=180>
File:Ritchies Archipelago locale.png|Outline map of the [[Andaman Islands]], with Ritchie's Archipelago highlighted (in red).
File:Tropical beach, Andamans Islands.jpg|Beach view on [[Havelock Island]]
File:Havelock Island, Sandy lagoon, Andaman Islands.jpg|Lagoon, Havelock Island
File:Neil Island, Andaman.jpg|A beach on [[Neill Island]]
File:Shaheed Island, Andamans, Interior jungle.jpg|Forest cover, Shaheed Island
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal|India}}
*{{wikivoyage-inline|Ritchie's Archipelago}}
*[[Andaman Islands]]
*[[Rani Jhansi Marine National Park]]
{{South Andaman district |state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie's Archipelago}}
[[Category:Ritchie's Archipelago| ]]
[[Category:South Andaman district]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Andaman Sea]]