Neduntheevu or Neduntivu (also known by its Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 name Delft) is an island in the Palk Strait

Palk Strait

Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay and thence with the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest. The strait is wide. Several...

, northern Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. This island is named as Delft in the Admiralty Chart

Admiralty chart

Admiralty charts are nautical charts issued by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and subject to Crown Copyright. Over 3,000 charts are available and cover virtually the entire world in various levels of detail depending on the density of traffic and hazards...

 unlike the other islands in the area which are named with their Tamil names. The island's area is 50 km² and it is roughly oval-shaped. Its length is 8 km and its maximum width about 6 km.

Neduntivu is a flat island surrounded by shallow waters and beaches of coral chunks and sand. There are feral ponies on the island that ware abandoned after Dutch period , which is home to a small population of Tamil people, mostly living in quiet compounds close to the northern coast.
The vegetation is of a semi-arid tropical type, with palmyra

Palmyra

Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...

 palms, dry shrubs and grasses that grow on the pale Grey porous coralline soil. Papayas and bananas grow close to the local people's homes. In the western coast of the island there are remains of a 1000 year old ancient temple built by the Chola Dynasty

Chola Dynasty

The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...

. The water is slightly brackish. It is taken from shallow wells using buckets made from palmyra palm leaves. as well as the ruins of a Dutch colonial fort. A naval battle

Battle of Delft

The Battle of Delft was a naval battleon December 25, 2007 and part of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Sri Lankan Navy claimed that it received reports of a boat cluster moving off of Delft Island. After moving in to investigate clashes erupted and fierce sea battle ensued. Both sides claimed to...

 was fought off the coast of the island in 2008 during the Sri-Lankan Civil War.

The island was named after the Dutch city of Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

 by Rijckloff van Goens

Rijckloff van Goens

Rijckloff van Goens was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1678-1681. He wrote extensively about his travels to Ceylon and India....

. He named the eight most important islands after Dutch cities, but the seven others are now named with domestic names.