Those tourists who are adventurous and often explore remote places will have heard about the risk of visiting the North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean. In this note we comment why its paradisiacal beaches - inhabited by the most isolated tribe on the planet - are considered extremely dangerous.

This untamed island - with almost 72 square kilometers - has been inhabited for 60,000 years and belongs to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, located in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian Ocean, more than 1,000 kilometers away from any port in continental India.

How do the 'lost tribe' of the island of North Sentinel live?

Although contact with the outside world has been minimal, there are certain facts that are known about the lifestyle of the North Sentinel tribe.

• They live in the Iron Age. According to Indian anthropologists, the Sentinelese would have evolved because their spears have metal tips that were obtained from the wreck of the Primrose, a cargo ship that washed up on Sentinel reefs in 1981.
• They survive from hunting and fishing. To do this, they use bows, arrows and spears with which they hunt and defend themselves against strangers. Their customs are very old, they do not control fire and eat raw food.
• About race. Some anthropometric records relate them to some African tribes that migrated to this Indian Ocean area. According to historians and ethnographers, the Sentinelese derive from the Jarawa and the Aeta. Their typical features are of people with dark skin, long limbs and large size, especially men.
• Regarding to their relations with other tribes, it is practically nil and they are bellicose, violent and do not skimp on attacking to defend themselves.

No visits:

Due to their behavior around non-tribal people, the government of India and the governorate of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have warned tourists about trespassing on North Sentinel Island.

In fact, it is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world, where anyone who visits this island has a high chance of dying. There are records of the first victims from the 18th century, especially when the Jesuits and other religious entities tried to connect with the settlers. And in his records, the famous explorer and navigator Marco Polo referred to these inhabitants as 'cruel and ruthless people'.

On the other hand, during the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Indonesia and some island territories, North Sentinel Island was severely affected. However, the Indian government tried to help and check the damage, but they were repelled by arrows fired by the Sentinelese.

Likewise, there were records of two fishermen who spent the night on that island and got lost, where they were massacred by the locals. The last record of an attack occurred in 2018, when a Christian missionary was killed by the tribe.

For this reason, it is totally forbidden to spend the night or enter that island, where the locals consider anyone who meddles in their territory to be an enemy.

Currently:

There is no official record on the native population on North Sentinel Island due to the lack of an official census. However, estimates and approximations suggest that there are at least 50-150 Sentinelese inhabiting the island.

Various organizations in favor of human rights report that this tribe is one of the most isolated in the world and lacks medical assistance. In fact, some Sentinelese die from diseases that are completely controllable, due to conditions they live in. Currently, there is no way to verify the well-being of the Sentinelese, since only domestic flights and overflights of helicopters belonging to the Ministry of Defense are carried out, and at a prudent distance.

Only time will tell if Sentinel Island is the last paradise on Earth or if it becomes a hell where the tribe, inexorably linked to the fate of their reefs, will end up dying due to scarcity of food and resources.