There are over 570 islands in the territory, of which only some 38 are permanently inhabited. Most of the islands (about 550) are in the Andamans group, 26 of which are inhabited. The smaller Nicobars are comprised of some 22 main islands (12 inhabited). The Andmans and Nicobars are separated by a channel (the Ten Degree Channel) some 150 km wide. The total area of the Andaman Islands is some 6,408 km2; that of the Nicobar Islands approximately 1,841 km2.

Often referred to as the perfect tropical paradise, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands form the peaks of a vast submerged mountain range that extends between Myanmar and Sumatra. This colony of 300 islands stretch over 500 miles in the Bay of Bengal. Situated east of the Indian mainland between the 6th and 14th parallel of north latitude and between 92 degree and 94 degree of east longitude, the islands run on Indian time so the sun rises at 4 am and darkness falls soon after 5 pm.

The islands are in two groups: the Andamans and the Nicobar, with a ten-degree channel separating the two. The bulk of the 239 Andaman Islands comprise of North, Middle and South Andamans, which along with Baratang and Rut-Land forms one landmass known as the Great Andamans.