Mergui Archipelago

Mergui Archipelago

Village in the Mergui Archipelago
Map of Mergui Archipelago
Geography
Adjacent to	Andaman Sea
Demographics
Ethnic groups	Moken • Malay

The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago or Myeik Kyunzu;

Environment

Geologically, the islands are characterized mainly by limestone and granite. They are generally covered with thick tropical growth, including rainforest, and their shorelines are punctuated by beaches, rocky headlands, and in some places, mangrove swamps. Offshore are extensive coral reefs.

The archipelago's virtual isolation from most of mankind's influence on the natural environment has given the islands and the surrounding waters of the

Environmental threats to the region include overfishing and also blast fishing.

Geography

The largest and highest island is Kadan Kyun at 767 metres ^[7] across the inland channel from Myeik. Other important islands are:

• Auriol Island
• Bentinck Kyun
• Christie Island, the southernmost island of the group
• Daung Kyun
• Kabosa Island
• Kadan Kyun
• Kanmaw Kyun
• Lamin Island
• Lanbi Kyun
• Letsok-aw Kyun
• Mali Kyun, the northernmost island of the group
• Money Island
• Sabi Island
• Saganthit Kyun
• Tenasserim Island
• Thahtay Kyun
• Than Kyun
• Thayawthadangyi
• Zadetkyi

History

The archipelago was likely first settled by Malay sailors who arrived from the south. However, it remained largely uninhabited until the 20th century. Malays and Chinese traders used the inner waters to escape the southwest monsoon, while larger ships avoided the complicated maritime geography. Pirates and slavers also used it as a refuge, because it was almost impossible to control. For this reason, the Moken people found refuge here until the modern world intervened. The islands began to be accurately charted only after British occupation in 1824. First, Captain Ross surveyed the outer islands in the late 1820s, followed by Captain Lloyd in the inner islands in the late 1830s. Also at that time, between 1838 and 1840, Dr. Johann W. Helfer explored all aspects of the archipelago on behalf of the East India Company. A transcription of his journal, along with interactive maps showing his routes, is listed below in the external links.

Population

The local people are an ethnic minority called the

Violence by the military regime in the archipelago

The Mergui Archipelago is located in

• In the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, Ernst Stavro Blofeld demands that NATO pay the international criminal organization SPECTRE a ransom of white flawless diamonds worth £100 million to be deposited in the Mergui Archipelago off the coast of Myanmar.
• The Mergui Archipelago has appeared in several of
  W.E. Johns's "Biggles
  " books: Biggles – Air Commodore (1937), Biggles Delivers the Goods (1946), and Biggles and the Lost Sovereigns (1964).