India prepares for the 2027 national census, facing challenges in counting Indigenous people like the Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island. The Sentinelese resist contact, and experts argue that protecting their isolation is more crucial than enumeration. The last census in 2011 reported only 15 individuals, with previous counts conducted cautiously from a distance to avoid hostile interactions. Survival International estimates their population between 50 to 150. A 5km exclusion zone has been maintained around the island to protect the tribe's health and autonomy from external threats.
Trying to do a census of the Sentinelese is pointless. It's far more important to protect the island's reef, marine resources and the tribe's isolation than to come up with a number.
The last time India conducted a census was in 2011. Since then, officials have enforced a 5km exclusion zone around North Sentinel Island.
Earlier censuses weren't invasive. Officials would travel by boat, circling the shores of North Sentinel Island, close enough to glimpse the inhabitants.
The 2001 census listed 39 individuals seen on the beach. The 2011 census put the number at 15, both seen as guesstimates based on offshore observations.
Collection
[
|
...
]