1) Lakshadweep is an archipelago located 200 – 400 km west of the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. 2) Earlier the name Lakshadweep referred to the three archipelagos in the Indian Ocean, the present Lakshadweep, Maldives and Suvadives. 3) In Malayalam, Lakshadweep means a hundred thousand islands and it is the smallest union territory in India. 4) The archipelago consists of 36 main islands and many smaller islands, coral atolls and coral reefs.