NydiaChiodo9 at 18:09, 14 March 2026

2026-03-14T18:09:54Z

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{{Short description|Indian island in the Bay of Bengal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Pulomilo
| native_name = Pilomillow, Pulo Milo
| native_name_link = Nicobarese language
| native_name_lang =
| sobriquet =
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| map = India Andaman and Nicobar Islands
| map_caption = Location of Pulomilo Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
| coordinates = {{coord|7.4|N|93.69|E|region:IN-AN_type:isle_dim:50000_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}}
| etymology =
| location = [[Bay of Bengal]]
| archipelago = [[Nicobar Islands]]
| waterbody = [[Indian Ocean]]
| total_islands = 1
| major_islands = {{hlist|Pulomilo}}
| area_km2 = 0.82
| 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|access-date=7 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828015509/http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf|archive-date=28 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rank =
| length_km = 1.3
| width_km = 0.9
| coastline_km = 4.8
| elevation_m = 10
| highest_mount =
| country = {{flag|India}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = [[List of districts in India#Andaman and Nicobar (AN)|District]]
| country_admin_divisions = [[Nicobar district|Nicobar]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Island group]]
| country_admin_divisions_1 = [[Nicobar Islands]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = [[Subdivisions of India]]
| country_admin_divisions_2 = [[Great Nicobar Subdivision]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_3 = [[Tehsils of India|Taluk]]
| country_admin_divisions_3 = [[Little Nicobar]]
| country_largest_city = Pulomilo
| country_largest_city_population = 20
| population = 20
| population_as_of = 2014
| population_footnotes =
| population_rank =
| population_rank_max =
| density_km2 = 0
| density_rank =
| density_footnotes =
| ethnic_groups = [[Hindu]], [[Nicobarese people|Nicobarese]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| timezone1_DST =
| utc_offset1_DST =
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 744301
| area_code = 03192
| 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 = 82.35%
| label3 = Avg. summer temperature| data3 ={{convert|32.0|°C|°F}}
| label4 = Avg. winter temperature| data4 ={{convert|28.0|°C|°F}}
| label5 = [[Human sex ratio|Sex ratio]]| data5 =[[male|♂]]/[[female|♀]]
| label7 = [[Census of India|Census code]]| data7 = 35.638.0002.645140
| label8 = Official Languages| data8 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[English language|English]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] <br /> [[Southern Nicobarese language|Southern Nicobarese]] (regional)
}}
}}
'''Pulomilo''' is an island in the [[Nicobar district]] of [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], [[India]], and is home to a village of the same name. It is located just north of [[Little Nicobar|Little Nicobar Island]].

==History==

=== Impact of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami ===
Pulomilo was devastated by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]]. There were initial fears that the entire population had drowned,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Asia-tsunami/A-queen-leaves-her-shattered-island-realm/2005/01/11/1105423487925.html |title=A queen leaves her shattered island realm |author=Hamish McDonald |date=2005-01-12 |access-date=2015-08-12}}</ref> but later reports showed that the island had been evacuated.<ref>{{cite book |author=Rajib Shaw |title=Recovery from the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DozE7f8FJjQC&pg=PT58 |year=2006 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-84544-954-4 |pages=74}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/E6C7D277FF1224E249256FB6000C853D-who-ind-24feb.pdf |title=India: Weekly Tsunami Situation Report as on 24 February 2005 |author=A. K. Sengupta, Office of WHO Representative to India |year=2005 |publisher=World Health Organization |pages=1 |access-date=2015-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ramakrishnan Korakandy |title=Fisheries Development in India: The Political Economy of Unsustainable Development, Vol. 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DozE7f8FJjQC&pg=PT58 |year=2008 |publisher=Kalpaz Publications |isbn=978-81-7835-634-1 |pages=267–368}}</ref>

One-hundred-five people were killed in the 2004 disaster on Pulomilo, representing 49.1% of the island's population. Of the 109 survivors, 15 (13.8%) had suffered an injury severe enough to be reportable and almost half (41 individuals) experienced [[diarrhoea]], [[dysentery]], [[fever]], or a respiratory infection.<ref name="rao"/>

Besides the human losses, Pulomilo's economy and infrastructure were also devastated. Before the tsunami, Pulomilo residents enjoyed a few hours of electricity each night, and the village accommodated a small police post and radio house staffed on a rotational basis.<ref name="chandi" /> The tsunami swept away most structures on the island.<ref name="rao"/>

Not only were buildings shattered, but the tsunami also severely eroded the villagers' ability to sustain themselves. It destroyed twenty-two of the islanders' outrigger canoes and eight boats,<ref name="rao"/> leaving only two embarkations in working order,<ref name="chandi" /> and killed 823 livestock animals,<ref name="rao"/> including 239 pigs belonging to 25 families.<ref>{{cite web |title=Livestock and Poultry Germplasm of Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Special Reference to the Nicobari Pig in 'Livestock-based Livelihoods: An action programme for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Proceedings of the Seminar held in Port Blair, Andamans, 23-24 November 2006' |author=S. Jeyakumar & A. Kundu |url=http://www.anthra.org/publications/seminar_proceedings/Andaman%20Report.pdf |publisher=Anthra |access-date=2015-08-12 |page=43}}</ref>

==Geography==
Pulomilo Island has a size of {{convert|0.82|km2|abbr=on}}.
Before the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]], Pulomilo was connected to the [[Little Nicobar]] island. After the earthquake and tsunami, it became an island, as most of its land — except a small hilltop — was eroded or submerged.<ref>{{cite book |author=Rajib Shaw |title=Recovery from the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DozE7f8FJjQC&pg=PT58 |year=2006 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-84544-954-4 |pages=58–}}</ref>
Most of the island is covered in forests of casuarina, pandanus, and coconut palm.
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiatravelnext.com/islands-of-andaman/pulo-milo-island-in-andaman-and-nicobar.html |title=Pulo Milo Island in Andaman and Nicobar, Info of Pulo Milo Island in Andaman |website=www.indiatravelnext.com |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520215922/http://www.indiatravelnext.com/islands-of-andaman/pulo-milo-island-in-andaman-and-nicobar.html |archive-date=20 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Administration==
Pulomilo island belongs to the [[Subdivisions of India|township]] of [[Great Nicobar Subdivision|Great Nicobar]] of [[Little Nicobar]] [[Tehsils of India|Taluk]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf |title=Tehsils |access-date=7 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828015509/http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf |archive-date=28 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dolr.nic.in/dolr/mpr/revenuevillagedirectorypdf/Andaman%20Nicobar.pdf |title=Andaman and Nicobar Islands villages |publisher=Land Records Information Systems Division, NIC |access-date=2015-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095346/http://dolr.nic.in/dolr/mpr/revenuevillagedirectorypdf/Andaman%20Nicobar.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Economics==
Pulomilo island's main production crop is coconut in the form of [[copra]].<ref name="rao">{{cite book |author=Dr. V.R. Rao |title=Tsunami in South Asia: Studies of Impact on Communities of Andaman and Nicobar Islands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4PDCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |date=14 May 2007 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=9788184241891 |pages=40}}</ref><ref name="ANA">{{cite web|url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/IslandwiseStatistical/pulomilo.pdf |title=Pulomilo Island |year=2006 |publisher=Andaman & Nicobar Administration Directorate of Economics & Statistics |access-date=2015-08-12 }}</ref> The island has no electricity,<ref name="ANA" /> and the primary mode of transport is by boat.<ref name="rao"/><ref name="chandi" />

===Tourism===
Pulomilo also receives a tiny share of the [[Nicobar Islands|Nicobar]] tourist trade. One late 20th-century visitor described Pulomilo as a "stunning, magnificent Island" marked by "lush, green, rain-washed coconut plantations" beyond "a golden sandy beach, behind which lay stilted thatched huts"<ref name="virk">{{cite book |author=H. P. S. Virk |title=Rendezvous: Forbidden Land of the 'Nicobar Islands' |year=2015 |publisher=Friesen Press |isbn=978-1460258767 |pages=29}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
Pulomilo Island's sole settlement is the village of Pulomilo.<ref name="ANA" />
According to the [[2011 census of India|2011 census data]], Pulomilo has a total population of 20 individuals in 5 households.<ref name="rao"/>{{rp|29, 35}}<ref name="ANA" /><ref name="census_2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/3500_PART_B_DCHB_ANDAMAN%20&%20NICOBAR%20ISLANDS.pdf |title=District Census Handbook - Andaman & Nicobar Islands |work=[[2011 Census of India]] |publisher=Directorate of Census Operations, Andaman & Nicobar Islands |access-date=2015-07-21 }}</ref>

The primary language spoken among the residents is the [[Channai Payuh]] dialect of [[Nicobarese languages|Nicobari]]<ref name="chandi">{{cite journal |author=Manish Chandi |title=Rehabilitation and change in the aftermath of a tsunami. A return to Little Nicobar Island |url=https://www.academia.edu/2486955 |date=November 2006 |journal=Proceedings of the First India Disaster Management Congress |publisher=Academia.edu |access-date=2015-08-12}}</ref><ref name="ANA" /> and most are [[Christians]].<ref name="ANA"/> The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of the population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 82.35%.<ref name="census_2011"/>

==Image gallery==
<gallery widths="180">
File:Map of Nicobar Islands-en.png|Map
File:LittleNicobarIslandMap.jpg|Pulomilo is located to the north-west of the Little Nicobar Island
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|India|Islands}}
*{{wikivoyage-inline|Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}
{{Nicobar district |state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulomilo}}
[[Category:Islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Nicobar district]]
[[Category:Villages in Great Nicobar tehsil]]
[[Category:Nicobar district]]
[[Category:Populated places in India]]
[[Category:Islands of India]]
[[Category:Islands of the Bay of Bengal]]

Pulomilo Island - Revision history

NydiaChiodo9 at 18:09, 14 March 2026