Draft Annual Plan 1980-81 Union Territory of Lakshadweep

Abstract

Ten inhabited and seventeen uninhabited coral islands scattered in the Arabian Sea, about 200 to 400 kilometres off the Kerala coast, constitute the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, the smallest in the Indian Union. The islands are identical in structure and formation rising not more than about 10 metres above the sea. There are shallow lagoons on the western side encircled by coral reefs, beyond which lies the deep sea. On the eastern side, the slope is very abrupt and in some cases the hundred fathom line is found hardly 150 metres from the shore.