Shompen Tribe

UPSC Reference Category: GS Paper I – Geography | GS II – Tribal Affairs | Environment

Location

Great Nicobar Island

Key Characteristics

  • Indigenous tribal community.
  • Traditionally lives in the forested interior of Great Nicobar.
  • Semi-nomadic/forest-dependent lifestyle.
  • Traditionally practices hunting, gathering and limited cultivation.
  • Maintains relatively limited interaction with mainstream society.

Current-Affairs Significance

The community is particularly important in discussions surrounding the Great Nicobar Island Project.

The project involves:

  • International container transshipment
  • Airport
  • Power infrastructure
  • Township
  • Strategic/maritime infrastructure.

Concerns include:

  • Tribal rights
  • Habitat disruption
  • Biodiversity
  • Forest diversion
  • Ecological carrying capacity.

Great Nicobar lies close to the Strait of Malacca, giving it major strategic importance.

Key Pointer

Shompen → Great Nicobar → Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) → forest-dependent community