Lakshadweep is one of India's union territories comprised of 36 islands, 12 atolls, 5 submerged banks and 3 reefs. Lying in the Arabian Sea some 300 kilometers off the Malabar Coast of Kerala State in southern India, the islands are spread over some 48,000 square kilometers of ocean. Generally low-lying coral atolls, the territory has a combined land area of just 32 square kilometers.
The archipelago was known by the anglicised name Laccadives until 1973 although it was applied strictly to central Lakshdweep with the northern Amindivi Islands and Minicoy to the south considered separate.
The islands are comprised of the Amindivis group in the north, the Laccadives group in the centre, and Minicoy Island in the south. Of the 36 island, only ten are inhabited and among those are Andrott, which is the largest and Agatti.
The territory's administrative headquarters is in Kavaratti Island, located roughly in the centre of the archipelago. Its inhabitants are mostly Muslims and the main occupations are fishing, the cultivation of coconuts for coir, a coarse fiber and copra or coconut kernels.
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