Description
Though located all the way across the Bay of Bengal from the mainland, the tiny Andaman and Nicobar Islands account for more than a quarter of India's coastline. Comprising 836 isles and islets that arc about 500 miles from north to south, the archipelago's tangled shores are largely lined with mangroves : saltwater-loving trees whose sinuous roots reinforce the shoreline's structure and help reduce erosion. The term 'mangrove' refers to about 60 plant species that share these traits, and more than half of them can be found in the Andamans' saline shallows and swamps.