The Andaman Islands is home to an indigenous group of Sentinelese. If any foreigners even attempt to sneak a peak, they are met with spears at the coastline. One of the last remaining tribes on earth that is completely untouched by modern civilization, the Sentinelese want to keep it that way.

India had administered the island as part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory in 1947. But no treaties were signed, so the island remains in limbo.

In 2005, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration stated they had no intention to interfere with the lifestyle of the Sentinelese. Populations are estimated to be in the few dozens.

The Andaman and Nicobar Administration has stated in 2005 that they have no intention to interfere with the lifestyle or habitat of the Sentinelese and are not interested in pursuing any further contact with them. North Sentinel Island is not legally an autonomous administrative division of India. However, scholars have referred to it and its people as autonomous, or “independent.”