Laccadive

Laccadive is a historic term used to refer to a group of islands and the adjacent sea area in the northern Indian Ocean. The name appears in older cartography and maritime writings and is closely associated with the Laccadive Sea, a marginal sea lying between the southwestern coast of India and the Maldives. In modern usage, Lakshadweep is the contemporary name for the archipelago, and Lakshadweep and Laccadive Sea are the more common terms in official and geographic contexts.

The Laccadive Sea is a shallow, tropical sea that forms part of the northern Indian Ocean. It lies off the coast of the Indian state of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to the east and is bounded toward the south by the Maldive archipelago. The sea is characterized by warm surface waters, coral reefs, and numerous atolls and shoals, making its marine environment highly productive but also ecologically sensitive.

The Laccadive Islands, administratively known as Lakshadweep, constitute a union territory of India. The archipelago comprises 36 islands, with several inhabited and many uninhabited, organized into atolls and reefs. The administrative capital is Kavaratti. The islands are small and low-lying, with economies that traditionally rely on fishing and coconut cultivation, and with regulated tourism guided by environmental protections aimed at preserving coral ecosystems.

The term Laccadive, while historic, is largely superseded by Lakshadweep in official usage. It remains encountered in historical texts and discussions of maritime geography and regional ecology.