Coco Islands

The islands were on the ancient trade route between India, Burma, and Southeast Asia and were regularly visited by ships. In the 16th century, Portuguese sailors named the islands after the Portuguese word for coconut, coco. The East India Company took over the islands in the 18th century, later becoming part of the British Raj. The Coco Islands provided food, mainly coconuts, to a penal colony at Port Blair on South Andaman Island; the colony was established in 1858 to hold prisoners from the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The islands were leased to the Jadwet family in the 1860s, who built a lighthouse on Table Island. The islands were deemed too remote to administer from India after it took many weeks for the Chief Commissioner at Port Blair to learn of a murder at the lighthouse in 1877. Control was transferred to British Burma by 1882. The islands were commercially leased starting in 1878, but attempts to develop it over the next 60 years failed. Burma retained the islands when it became a crown colony in 1937. Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War. Postcolonial history Burma became independent in 1948 with control over the Coco Islands. A penal colony was founded on Great Coco Island in January 1959 by Ne Win's government for political prisoners. After Ne Win’s 1962 coup d'état, it developed a reputation as a Burmese "Devil’s Island". Three inmate hunger strikes from 1969 to 1971 led to the prison's closure in December 1971. Afterward, the facilities were transferred to the Burmese Navy. In 1998, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes claimed that China leased the islands in 1994; no supporting evidence had emerged by 2008. ==Geography==

The Bay of Bengal lies to the west of the islands. The Andaman Sea lies to the east. The Burmese mainland is to the north. The island of Preparis lies to the north-northeast of the Coco Islands. Geographically, they are a part of the Andaman Islands archipelago, most of which belongs to India. They are separated from Landfall Island, the northernmost island in the Indian part of the archipelago, by the wide Coco Channel. It has a lantern and gallery, painted with red and white horizontal bands. Two 1-story brick keeper's houses and other light station buildings lie around the lighthouse. The island is accessible by boat. One of the former island keepers was brutally murdered by his boss. Slipper Island Slipper Island is a long narrow islet located off the northwestern point of Table Island, separated from it by a narrow channel. Jerry Island Jerry Island is a long and wide islet located off the southern point of Great Coco Island, which can be reached from the Great Coco Island just by walking on the sandbar connecting these two islands. Little Coco Reef This reef has only one island. Little Coco Island Little Coco Island lies to the southwest of Great Coco Island. It is long from north to south and wide from east to west. This island is on a separate reef, and the rest of the four islands (including Table Island) are on the same reef as Coco Island. This is the southernmost Island belonging to Myanmar in the Andaman and Nicobar Sea, the next island to the south is Landfall Island belonging to India. General information ==Image gallery==

File:Andaman nicobar 76.jpg|Map of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the Coco Islands in the extreme north File:Great-Coco-map.jpg|Map of Great Coco Island with tiny Jerry Island at the bottom File:Little-Coco-map.jpg|Map of Little Coco Island, it is the southernmost island of Myanmar File:Table-Island-map.jpg|Map of Table Island in the middle and Slipper Island to the northwest ==Demography==

There are more than 200 houses on Great Coco Island, and its total population is around a thousand people. A large water catchment reservoir can support the island's population. There is a naval base on the islands, which belongs to the 28th unit of the Myanmar Navy. It is home to some 200 soldiers and their families. == Climate ==

The Coco Islands have a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year. There is a winter dry season from December to March. There is a summer wet season from April to November. Heavy rain has been known in September, such as of rain. ==Administration==

The island belongs to the township of Cocokyun. The township had a corruption scandal in the Myanmar general election of 2015. Ballots were filled in Yangon without being shipped, resulting in a high turnout and police investigation. ==Transportation==

The Coco Island Airport (ICAO code: VYCI) is at the north of Great Coco Island. It follows the north–south axis near the island's village. The airport was recently renovated. ==Military==

In 1992, a Japanese news service reported that China was helping upgrade the base on Great Coco Island. Through the 1990s and 2000s, journalists and academics expanded the claims to China having a major signals intelligence base, seemingly part of the so-called "string of pearls", that monitored Indian activity. In 1998, George Fernandes also claimed China intended to build a major naval base on the islands; India was the only country to publicly "confirm" that the Chinese base existed. No supporting evidence appears through 2008. China and Burma denied the base's existence. In 1998, the United States reported that there was no significant Chinese activity. In 2005, India retracted its position; this followed an Indian inspection of the islands at Burma's invitation. In 2014, Air Marshal P. K. Roy, commander-in-chief of India's Andaman and Nicobar Command, stated that "China has been developing a runway for civilian purposes. There are no reports of the presence of Chinese per se. The situation is not alarming". He added that there were only some civilian infrastructural developments, which were not a threat to India. Satellite images from Maxar Technologies, taken in January 2023, revealed upgrades to Coco Island Airport. These included a longer 2,300-metre runway, a radar tower, and two new hangars. It appears that the installation is run by the Tatmadaw or Myanmar military with no visible Chinese military presence. ==Flora and fauna==

The islands offer the opportunity to see rare reptiles, birds, and mammals that are unique to the Coco Islands. ==See also==