Maldives is an island country in the Indian Ocean, South Asia, south-southwest of India. It has a total land size of 298 km2 (115 sq mi) which makes it the smallest country in Asia. It consists of approximately 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making this one of the most geographically dispersed countries in the world. It has the 31st largest exclusive economic zone of 923,322 km2 (356,497 sq mi). Composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, the atolls are situated atop a submarine ridge, 960 km (600 mi) long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south. Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of Maldives. For administrative purposes the Maldives government organized these atolls into twenty-one administrative divisions.
The Laccadive Islands or Cannanore Islands are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the central subgroup of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Amindivi Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north and from the atoll of Minicoy (Maliku)—far to the south—by the 9 Degree or Mamala Channel.
Huvadhu is a large atoll located south of the Suvadiva Channel the Republic of Maldives. Etymologically it was called Suvadhinmathi, Suvadiva or haddhun'mathi with a total area of 3152 km², of which 38.5 km² is dry land. The atoll contains 255 islands.
The Maldives are formed by 20 natural atolls, along with a few islands and isolated reefs today which form a pattern stretching from 7 degrees 10′ North to 0 degrees 45′ South. The largest of these atolls is Boduthiladhunmathi, while the atoll containing the most islands is Huvadhu.
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku, is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep. The island is situated 398 km west of Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala.
Haa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives.
Baa Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It consists of three separate natural atolls, namely southern Maalhosmadulu Atoll, the Fasdūtherē Atoll and the smaller natural atoll known as Goifulhafehendhu Atoll.
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.
For other islands see Dhiddhoo (disambiguation)
Villingili, is an uninhabited islet in Lakshadweep, India. It is located at the southwestern end of Minicoy's reef, in Maliku Atoll.
Suvadiva Channel is the broad channel that separates the northern and central Maldives from the southern atolls.
Kardiva Channel is a broad channel running from southwest to northeast and cutting across the Maldive atoll chain. This channel divides the Northern from the Central atolls of the Maldives.
Addu Kandu, Dv. for "Addu Channel", is the traditional name of the broad channel between Huvadhu Atoll and Addu Atoll in the south of Maldives.
Koimala Siri Mahaabarana Mahaa Radun or Koimala or Koimala Kalo is the last pre-Islamic and the earliest verifiable ruler of the Maldives. He reigned from A.D. 1117 to A.D. 1141.
The Nine Degree Channel is a channel in the Indian Ocean between the Laccadive Islands of Kalpeni and Suheli Par, and Maliku Atoll. These two subgroups of islands, together with the Amindivi Subgroup, form the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep.
Maldivians are a nation and Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising what is now the Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. All Maldivians share the same culture and speak the Maldivian language which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages. For ethnographic and linguistic purposes as well as geo-political reasons, anthropologists divide the Maldivian people into 3 subgroups.
Maldivian, also known by its endonym Dhivehi or Divehi, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the South Asian island country of Maldives and on Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, union territory of India.
There are broad channels between the Atolls of the Maldives known locally as 'kandu'. The deepness and broadness of the channels vary from channel to channel.
Mahl people refers to the ethnic Maldivians of India. They are one of the three subgroups of the Maldivians and speak the Mahl dialect of Divehi which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages. All Mahls are native to Minicoy Island in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India, which was formerly a part of the Maldive Islands.
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.
