Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep (/ləkˈʃɑːdwiːp/,  Lakṣadvīp , Lakshadīb, Malayalam: ലക്ഷദ്വീപ്, Mahl: ލަކްޝަދީބު), formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands (/ˌlækədaɪv ˌmɪnᵻkɔɪ/ & /ˌæmᵻnˈdiːvi/), is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 kilometres (120 to 270 mi) off the south western coast of India. The archipelago is a Union Territory and is governed by the Union Government of India. They were also known as Laccadive Islands, although geographically this is only the name of the central subgroup of the group. Lakshadweep comes from "Lakshadweepa", which means "one hundred thousand islands" in Sanskrit as well as many Indian languages like Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and others. The islands form the smallest Union Territory of India: their total surface area is just 32 km² (12 sq mi). The lagoon area covers about 4,200 km² (1,600 sq mi), the territorial waters area 20,000 km² (7,700 sq mi) and the exclusive economic zone area 400,000 km² (150,000 sq mi). The region forms a single Indian district with ten sub divisions. Kavaratti serves as the capital of the Union Territory and the region comes under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court. The islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands, which are the tops of a vast undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge.

Lakshadweep (Lok Sabha constituency)

Coordinates: 10°34′N 72°38′E / 10.57°N 72.63°E / 10.57; 72.63 Lakshadweep Lok Sabha constituency (formerly Laccadive, Minicoy And Amindivi Islands Lok Sabha constituency) is a Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) constituency, which covers the entire area of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. This seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. As of 2014, it is the smallest Lok Sabha constituency by number of voters.

Before its first election in 1967, its member of parliament (MP) was directly appointed by the President of India. Its first MP was K. Nalla Koya Thangal of the Indian National Congress (INC) who served two terms from 1957–67. Its first election in 1967 was won by independent politician, P. M. Sayeed. In the next election in 1971, Sayeed representing the INC was elected unopposed. He went on to win the next eight elections consecutively before being defeated by 71 votes in the 2004 election by P. Pookunhi Koya of the Janata Dal (United) party. In total, Sayeed represented this constituency in the Lok Sabha for ten consecutive terms from 1967 to 2004. In the 2009 election, Sayeed's son, Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed, won the seat. As of the latest election in 2014, the current MP representing this constituency is Mohammed Faizal P. P. of the Nationalist Congress Party.