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North Sentinel Island is a small, remote island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, located in the Bay of Bengal. It’s one of the most isolated places on Earth, primarily because of its inhabitants, the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe that has had virtually no contact with the outside world and fiercely rejects it. Here’s what I can tell you based on available knowledge:
- Geography: The island spans about 59.67 square kilometers (23 square miles) and is surrounded by a shallow reef, making it tough to approach by boat. It’s covered in dense forest, with a coastline of beaches and some elevated areas.
- The Sentinelese: The tribe is estimated to number between 15 and 500 people—exact figures are impossible since no one’s been able to get close enough for a reliable count. They’re hunter-gatherers, using bows, arrows, and spears to fish and hunt. They’ve been living there for possibly 60,000 years, making them one of the last uncontacted peoples.
- Isolation: The Sentinelese are known for their hostility toward outsiders. They’ve attacked boats, helicopters, and anyone who gets too close. In 2018, an American missionary, John Allen Chau, was killed by arrows when he tried to make contact, highlighting their rejection of external influence. This isn’t just stubbornness—it’s likely a survival mechanism, as they lack immunity to common diseases outsiders might bring.
- Legal Protection: The Indian government has made it illegal to approach within 5 nautical miles of the island, both to protect the Sentinelese and to avoid provoking them. After a 2006 incident where two fishermen were killed for drifting too close, enforcement got stricter. No one’s allowed to study them up close, so most of what we know comes from distant observations or rare, failed contact attempts.
- History: There’s not much recorded history because they’ve avoided integration. In the 19th century, a British colonial officer, Maurice Vidal Portman, kidnapped some Sentinelese, but they got sick in captivity, and the survivors were returned. That’s one of the few documented interactions, and it didn’t end well. Since then, even anthropologists have mostly given up on direct contact.
- Culture: We know almost nothing about their language, beliefs, or social structure. Their language is unclassified, meaning it doesn’t match any known linguistic family. They’ve been seen using metal salvaged from shipwrecks, but they don’t seem to have agriculture or advanced tech.
