The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are characterised by two distinct native cultures. One is of the Negrito population in the Andmans and other is of the Autochthones, i.e. the Mongoloid Nicobarese and Shompen. Both during pre- and post-British periods and even after Independence, these two cultures have maintained their distinct identities.

With the British occupation of these islands and the establishment of the penal settlement, the cultural scenario started changing. As a large number of aliens were brought and settled in the Andamans, the cultural pattern of the islands began to change. The tribals became the minority and the immigrants emerged as the dominant group. People from different states, with varied linguistic and cultural affiliations, began to live in the same settlement side by side. Under these circumstances, their cultural life began to assume some common features.

The situation was different in Nicobar. With the coming of the British, the missionaries started arriving and converting a large number of Nicobarese to Christianity. The Christian Nicobarese now mostly live in north and central Nicobar. Practitioners of the traditional tribal religion, however, still live in some remote islands. Moreover, Christianity, modern education, formal legislations, etc., have brought modernisation and westernisation only to people of Car Niocbar and a few other islands.