This article shows a list of cities and towns in Maldives . Administratively, only cities are recognized as being different from other islands, and no official towns exist. The islands are categorized into administrative atolls divided based on geographical location, with each atoll having a capital island.
Cities
Atoll Capitals
Other islands
The politics of the Maldives, as per the reports, take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the Head of Government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the Cabinet; like many presidential democracies, each member of the cabinet need to be approved by the Parliament. The President, along with their pick for vice president, is directly elected by the denizens to a five-year term by a secret ballot. Once in office, they could be re-elected to a second 5-year term, which is the limit allowed by the Constitution. The current President of the Maldives is Mohamed Muizzu, when his predecessor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih lost the 2023 Maldivian presidential election. Nasheed reportedly resigned involuntarily to forestall an escalation of violence, and was placed in jail, before being forced into exile, from which he eventually returned.
Huvadhu, Suvadive, Suvaidu or Suvadiva is the atoll with most islands in the world. The atoll is located in the Indian Ocean. It is south of the Suvadiva Channel in the Republic of Maldives with a total area of 3152 km2, of which 38.5 km2 is dry land. The atoll contains 255 islands.
Haa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives.
Vaavu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives, comprising the natural atolls of Felidhu Atoll and the Vattaru Reef.
Gaafu Alifu is an administrative division of the Maldives created on February 8, 1962, when Huvadhu Atoll was divided into two districts. Gaafu Alifu corresponds to the northeastern section of this large natural atoll north of the line extending between the channels of Footukandu and Vaarulu Kandu. The capital of this district is Vilingili.
Gaafu Dhaalu is an administrative district of the Maldives formed by the southwestern section of Huvadhu Atoll. It was created on February 8, 1962, when Huvadhu Atoll was divided into two districts. Gaafu Dhaalu corresponds to the Southwestern section of this large natural atoll, south of the line extending between the channels of Footukandu and Vaarulu Kandu. The capital of this region is Thinadhoo. There are 153 islands in this district, 10 of which are inhabited. This district is located about 340 kilometers south of the capital Malé.
Gnaviyani Atoll is one of the administrative divisions of the Maldives corresponding to the natural atoll, Fuvahmulah. Surfacewise this is the smallest administrative unit in the Maldives, situated on the Equatorial Channel between Huvadhu Atoll and Addu Atoll.
Madaveli is one of the inhabited islands of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll. Q1.
Rathafandhoo is an inhabited island of the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives.
Thinadhoo City is the capital of Gaafu Dhaalu region in the atoll of Huvadhu and the proposed capital for the Upper South Province of the Maldives. It has its own dialect of Dhivehi which is considerably different from northern speech.
Naifaru is an island in the Maldives 200 km (120 mi) north of the capital, Malé. It is the capital and most populous island of Lhaviyani Atoll.
Thinadhoo may refer to several islands in the Maldives:
The Administrative Divisions of the Maldives refers to the various units of government that provide local government services in the Maldives. According to the Decentralization Act 2010, the administrative divisions of the Maldives would consist of atolls, islands, and cities; each administered by their own local council, under the basic terms of home rule. Geographically, the Maldives are formed by a number of natural atolls plus a few islands and isolated reefs which form a pattern from North to South. Administratively, there are currently 189 islands, 18 atolls and 4 cities in the Maldives.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Maldives:
Haa Alif Atoll is the code name based on the letters of the Maldivian alphabet commonly used to refer to the administrative division officially known as North Thiladhunmathi Atoll in the Maldives.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Maldives is fulfilling 72.0% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income. When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Maldives achieves 98.0% of what is expected based on its current income. In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves 99.7% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. Maldives falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 18.2% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.
Media related to Populated places in the Maldives at Wikimedia Commons
