By Katia Hetter and Marnie Hunter, CNN

updated 2:35 PM EDT, Fri March 14, 2014

An Indian military search operation for the missing airliner is being launched from Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The Andaman Islands are at the center of one of the newest theories in the increasingly tangled search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Analysis of radar data revealed Friday by Reuters suggests the plane was flying toward the Indian Ocean archipelago. Reuters cited unidentified sources familiar with the investigation.

Aviation experts and locals are debating whether it would even be possible for a giant 777 to land -- or even approach -- the islands undetected. An Indian military search operation is being launched from Port Blair, the administrative center for the islands.

Here are five things to know about the islands now enveloped in the missing plane mystery:

They're remote and mostly uninhabited

The Andaman Islands are part of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory. There are 572 islands in the territory, only three dozen of which are inhabited. The territory has a population of nearly 380,000, according to India's 2011 census.

View original post here:

Five things to know about India's Andaman Islands