too great to justify any further attempts. Demographics North Sentinel Island is inhabited by the Sentinelese, indigenous people in voluntary isolation who defend their isolation by force. Their population was estimated to be between 50 and 400 people in a 2012 report. India's 2011 census indicates 15 residents in 10 households, but that too was merely an estimate, described as a "wild guess" by the Times of India. Like the Jarawas whose numbers have been decreasing, the Sentinelese population would face the potential threats of infectious diseases to which they have no immunity, as well as violence from intruders. The Indian government has declared the entire island and its surrounding waters extending from the island to be an exclusion zone to protect them from outside interference. Political status The Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 provides protection to the Sentinelese and other native tribes in the region. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration 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 or governing the island. Although North Sentinel Island is not legally an autonomous administrative division of India, scholars have referred to it and its people as effectively autonomous, or independent. References External links The Sentinelese People – history of the Sentinelese and of the island Brief factsheet about the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands by the Andaman & Nicobar Administration (archived 10 April 2009) "The Andaman Tribes: Victims of Development" Video clip from Survival International Photographs of the 1981 Primrose rescue Autonomous regions of India Islands of South Andaman district Islands of the Bay of Bengal Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples Populated places in India Islands of India