Port Blair

Port Blair (pronunciation^ⓘ), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram (Hindi pronunciation: [ˌɕɾˈɨː ˈʋɪ̯ˌd͡ʑʌjᵊ pʊˈɾ.əm]), is the capital city of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is located on the South Andaman Island situated between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. It is located approximately 1,190 km (740 mi) from Chennai and 1,255 km (780 mi) from Kolkata in mainland India. It is the headquarters of the South Andaman district, and the union territory's only notified town.

The town is home to the Veer Savarkar International Airport, the only major airport in the islands, and Port Blair Port, and serves as the major gateway for the islands. It is connected with mainland India by both air and sea, with a two to three-hour flight from mainland India and a three to four days voyage by sea from Chennai, Kolkata, or Visakhapatnam. It is home to the air base INS Utkrosh and the naval base INS Jarawa of the Indian Navy, and the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the only integrated tri-command of the Indian Armed Forces. It also hosts various sea and air bases of the Indian Coast Guard and the Andaman and Nicobar Police.

The indigenous inhabitants of the region were the Andamanese. In the late 18th century CE, the British colonised the Andaman Islands, and established a naval base, and a penal colony, which was abandoned two years later. On 22 February 1858, the British re-established a colony at Port Blair, and a new penal colony was established on the Ross Island near Port Blair, mainly to house the prisoners of the Indian rebellion of 1857. In 1872, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were united under a single command and administered by a chief commissioner based out of Port Blair. The Cellular Jail was completed in 1906, and used to house political prisoners and independence activists. During Second World War, the Japanese captured Port Blair on 23 March 1942, and it was retaken by the British on 7 October 1945. After the Indian Independence in 1947, the Andaman and Nicobar islands became part of the Dominion of India, and later a union territory with the capital at Port Blair.

The city was originally named after Archibald Blair, an officer of the Royal Indian Navy, who colonised the region in the late 18th century CE. On 13 September 2024, the Government of India officially renamed the city to Sri Vijaya Puram.