North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It lies to the west of the southern part of South Andaman Island; geographic coordinates: .

North Sentinel Island is home to a tribe of indigenous people, the Sentinelese, whose present numbers are uncertainly estimated to be anywhere between 50-400 individuals. They refuse any contact with other people and are among the last people who have remained virtually untouched by modern civilisation. The local government has recently stated that there are no intentions of interfering with their lifestyle and habitat. Although the Andaman Islands are likely to have suffered seriously from the effects of the December 2004 tsunami, the survival of the Sentinelese was confirmed when several days after the event an Indian government helicopter that was sent to the island observed several of them. They proceeded to fire arrows at the hovering aircraft to repel it.

External links

• "Lonely islands: The Andamanese", comprehensive online documentation by George Weber
• "The Last Island of the Savages", in-depth article by Adam Goodheart
• Brief factsheet about the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands, by the Andaman & Nicobar Administration
• "The Andaman Tribes - Victims of Development"
• Administration in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands has finally decided upon a policy of minimal interference

Indian Ocean atolls | Islands of India | Andaman and Nicobar Islands

North Sentinel Island | Pohjois-Sentinel | North Sentinel Island