Minicoy: Difference between revisions

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| area_footnotes  = <ref name="cit">{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/lakshadweep/data%20sheet.pdf |title=Islandwise Area and Population - 2011 Census |publisher=Government of Lakshadweep |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722061135/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/lakshadweep/data%20sheet.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2016 }}</ref>

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'''Minicoy''', locally known as '''Maliku''' ({{IPA-all|məliku}}), is an island in [[Lakshadweep]], India. Along with [[Viringili]], it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost [[atoll]] of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a [[census town]] in the Indian [[States and territories of India|union territory]] of Lakshadweep. The island is situated 425&nbsp;km west of [[Trivandrum]], the capital city of [[Kerala]].

The ancient name of Maliku was ''Mahiladū'' meaning women's island. Mahiladū derives from [[Elu|Elu Prakrit]] term ''Mahila du'', which literally means woman-island.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMjElROVSo Asianet News - മിനികോയ് ദ്വീപ്‌ അകലങ്ങളിലെ ഇന്ത്യ]</ref>  

Minicoy is the second largest and the southernmost among the islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago. It is located 201&nbsp;km to the southsouthwest of [[Kalpeni]], at the southern end of the [[Nine Degree Channel]] and 125&nbsp;km to the north of [[Thuraakunu]], [[Maldives]], at the northern end of the [[Eight Degree Channel]]. The atoll is 10&nbsp;km in length, having a maximum breadth of about 6&nbsp;km. The closest geographic feature is the [[Investigator Bank]], a submerged shoal located 31&nbsp;km to the northeast.<ref>[http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub173/173sec05.pdf Hydrographic Description (Indian Ocean Pilot)]</ref>

It is located 400&nbsp;km west off the coast of [[Trivandrum]]. The atoll contains two islands. The main island is located on the eastern and southeastern side of the lagoon, along the reef fringe. It measures about 10&nbsp;km from its northern end to its southernmost point and it is about 1&nbsp;km wide in its southern half, while the northern half is a narrow sandspit, often less than 100&nbsp;m wide. Minicoy is almost completely covered with coconut trees. One of the few landmarks of the island is a tall lighthouse. On the southern side of the main island lies the uninhabited islet of Viringili ([[Dhivehi language|Dhivehi]]: ވިރިންގިލި ; {{lang-ml|വിരിന്ഗാ}}, also called the Small Pox Island), measuring barely 200&nbsp;m in length. Formerly the [[leprosy|lepers]] of Minicoy were banished to this island where they lived in abject conditions.

| title = Normals Data: Minicoy - India Latitude: 8.30°N Longitude: 73.15°E Height: 0 (m)

In December 1976, India and the Maldives signed a [[List of maritime boundary treaties|maritime boundary treaty]] whereby Minicoy was placed on the Indian side of the boundary.<ref>"India–Maldives: Agreement between India and the Maldives on Maritime Boundary in the Arabian Sea and Related Matters", in Jonathan I. Charney and Lewis M. Alexander (eds., 1998). ''International Maritime Boundaries'' (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, {{ISBN|978-90-411-0345-1}}) pp. 1389–1399.</ref> India and Maldives officially and amicably decided their [[maritime boundary]] in 1976,<ref name="CFR">{{cite web|url=http://www.himalmag.com/97mar/cov-mal.htm |title=Maldives, Sri Lanka and the "India Factor" |access-date=5 June 2008 |publisher=Himal South Asia Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529195009/http://www.himalmag.com/97mar/cov-mal.htm |archive-date=29 May 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> in 1982 when the brother of the [[President of Maldives]] [[Maumoon Abdul Gayoom]] declared that the neighbouring [[Minicoy Island]] that belonged to India were a part of Maldives; Maldives quickly and officially denied that it was laying claim to the island.<ref name="CFR"/><ref name = trivedi>Ramesh Trivedi (2007). ''India's Relations with her Neighbours'' (Isha Books, {{ISBN|978-81-8205-438-7}}) p. 177.</ref>

India and Maldives continue to enjoy friendly relations and a [[India–Maldives relations|strategic partnership]] in economic and military fields.<ref name="G">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0176) |title=china - India relations |access-date=5 June 2008 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies}}</ref><ref name="CFR"/> [[India]] continues to contribute to the [[Indian Armed Forces|security]] of the island nation of [[Maldives]].<ref name="CFR"/><ref name="VA3">{{cite book |author=Devin T. Hagerty |title=South Asia in World Politics |pages=102–103|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |year=2005 |isbn=0-7425-2587-2}}</ref>

[[Agatti Airport]] is the only civilian airport in [[Lakshadweep]]. Helicopter transfer is available from Agatti to Kavaratti throughout the year. The flight from [[Cochin]] to [[Agatti Aerodrome|Agatti]] takes approximately one hour thirty minutes. Flights operate six days a week. The Government of India is planning to develop an airport at Minicoy Island to boost tourism and promote tuna fishing industry for improving livelihoods in Lakshadweep.<ref>{{cite news|title= Lakshadweep's Minicoy Island to get airport |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/coming-soon-airport-at-lakshadweeps-minicoy-island/article9949217.ece |work=[[The Hindu Business Line]] |date= 8 November 2017| access-date=10 November 2017}}</ref>

The [[Lakshadweep]] authorities are seeking an opportunity to invest in Port City of Kerala [[Kollam]]. They are ready to invest in a passenger terminal with dormitory facilities and an office to guide the people of Minicoy reaching Kollam Port.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/lakshadweep-keen-on-investing-in-kollam-port/article86649.ece|title= Lakshadweep keen on investing in Kollam port|access-date=2014-08-27|work= The Hindu|date= 7 December 2009}}</ref> Traditionally, Lakshadweep's connections with the mainland have been through [[Kollam]], [[Kochi]] and [[Beypore]] ports. But Minicoy, a small atoll at the southernmost end of the archipelago, is closer to Kollam than to either Kochi or Beypore.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Passenger-Ship-Service-Likely-between-Kollam-and-Minicoy/2014/06/25/article2298964.ece|title= Passenger Ship Service Likely between Kollam and Minicoy|access-date=2014-08-27|publisher= The New Indian Express}}</ref>

 

{{Reflist|30em}}

* Divehi Tārīkhah Au Alikameh. Divehi Bahāi Tārikhah Khidmaiykurā Qaumī Markazu. Reprint 1958 edn. Male’ 1990.

*Das, Nrupal: Minicoy Island: Beaches, Culture and People of Minicoy, Lakshadweep Islands. 2018, Kindle, 37 Pages (Available Online - [https://www.amazon.in/Minicoy-Island-Beaches-Culture-Lakshadweep-ebook/dp/B07KGCVD7T/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 Minicoy, Lakshadwweep Islands])

{{Commons category|Minicoy Island}}