The Andaman Islands are home to four 'Negrito' tribes - the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese. The Nicobar Islands are home to two 'Mongoloid' tribes - the Shompen and Nicobarese.
One of the four 'Negrito' tribes of the Andaman Islands have been moved to the Islands' capital, Port Blair, by the local authorities.
The first authoritative reports are now coming in on the fate of the five isolated tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, hit hard by the Asian quake disaster.
Authorities in India have bowed to local and international pressure and increased the size of the reserve set aside for the recently-contacted Jarawa tribe.
Outsiders are invading the reserve of the isolated Jarawa tribe in the Andaman Islands, India, and stealing the game on which they depend for food. There are also increasing reports of Jarawa women being sexually exploited.
The future of the recently contacted Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands is to be decided at a closed meeting on 7 and 8 April, in defiance of the Indian High Court which ordered 'open discussions' on the issue.
The administration in India's Andaman Islands is defying a supreme court order to close a road running through the reserve of the isolated Jarawa tribe. Until the road is closed, the Jarawa are at great risk of catching fatal diseases.
The recently-contacted Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean was given new hope in 2002.