The Lakshadweep is an archipelago of islands that lie in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Kerala. The archipelago forms the smallest among the union territories of India.
These islands get their name from the Sanskrit word ‘lakshadweepa’ which means ‘one hundred thousand islands’. The 36 main islands in this archipelago have only 32 square kilometres of land between them. Most of the other islands in Lakshadweep are very small, and not inhabited.
The islands were once part of the Chola Empire. Later, the Portuguese, and then the British, took control. When India won independence from the British, Lakshadweep became a part of India. Coconut production and coconut fibre extraction are two most important industries in Lakshadweep.