Mysterious North Sentinel Island, home to uncontacted tribe that kills outsiders

It is a crime to come within 5KM of the island.

It may look like paradise - but be warned, because all is not as it seems on the mysterious North Sentinel Island.

Located in the Indian Ocean, it is about the size of Manhattan and has been inhabited by the indigenous Sentinelese people for 60,000 years.

The tribe have had little contact with the modern world and are violent to outsiders - killing American tourist John Chau when he visited North Sentinel Island in November 2018.

The Sentinelese throw rocks and shoot arrows at planes or helicopters that pass overhead, and such is the hostility they show towards outsiders that only low-quality photos exist of the inhabitants.

It is a crime to attempt to make contact with the Sentinelese, and in 2017 Indian authorities outlawed taking photographs or making videos of the tribe as well.

Only low-quality photos exist of the inhabitants because of the hostility they show towards outsiders

In 2006, two men were killed by the tribe while they were fishing close to North Sentinel Island, and Survival International - which advocates for the rights of tribal groups - has claimed that local fisherman are regularly entering the area. It is believed that one even stepped onto the island before he and six others were arrested by the authorities.

The seven fishermen who ferried slain tourist John Chau to North Sentinel Island have also been arrested.

The group now fears that the survival of the tribe, which is believed to now consist of only 50 to 150 people, is under threat.

Survival International’s director, Stephen Corry, said: "The Great Andamanese tribes of India’s Andaman Islands were decimated by disease when the British colonised the islands in the 1800s.

"The most recent to be pushed into extinction was the Bo tribe, whose last member died only four years ago.

"The only way the Andamanese authorities can prevent the annihilation of another tribe is to ensure North Sentinel Island is protected from outsiders."