Raa Atoll | |
---|---|
Country | Maldives |
Corresponding geographic atoll(s) | Maalhosmadulu Uthuruburi |
Location | 5° 58' N and 5° 20' N |
Capital | Ungoofaaru |
Government | |
• Atoll Chief | Ali Shahid |
Population | |
• Total | 24,753 |
Letter code | E |
Dhivehi letter code | R (ރ) |
• Number of islands | 88 |
• Inhabited islands | Alifushi Angolhitheemu Fainu Hulhudhuffaaru Inguraidhoo Innamaadhoo Kandholhudhoo Kinolhas Maakurathu Maduvvaree Meedhoo Rasgetheemu Rasmaadhoo Ungoofaaru Vaadhoo |
• Uninhabited islands | Aarah, Arilundhoo, Badaveri, Bodufarufinolhu, Bodufenmaaenboodhoo, Bodufushi, Boduhaiykodi, Boduhuraa, Ekurufushi, Etthingili, Dhigali, Dhoragali, Dheburidheythereyvaadhoo, Dhikkurendhdhoo, Dhinnaafushi, Dhuvaafaruhuraa, Faarafushi, Fasmendhoo, Fenfushi, Filaidhoo, Fuggiri, Furaveri, Gaaudoodhoo, Giraavaru, Goyyafaru, Guboshi, Hiraveri, Hulhudhoo, Huruvalhi, Ifuru, Kaddogadu, Kothaifaru, Kottafaru, Kottefaru, Kudafushi, Kudahaiykodi, Kudakurathu, Kudalhosgiri, Kudathulhaadhoo, Kukulhudhoo, Kuroshigiri, Lhaanbugali, Lhaanbugau, Lhohi, Liboakandhoo, Lundhufushi, Maafaru, Maamigili, Maamunagaufinolhu, Maanenfushi, Maashigiri, Madivaafaru, Mahidhoo, Meedhupparu, Muravandhoo, Mullaafushi, Neyo, Thaavathaa, Ufulandhoo, Ugulu, Uthurumaafaru, Vaffushihuraa, Vandhoo, Veyvah, Viligili, Wakkaru |
Resort islands(*), airports(¤) and industrial islands are also considered uninhabited. |
Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll (code name Raa) is an atoll from the Maldives. It includes Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll proper and the island of Alifushi.
An atoll, sometimes called a coral atoll, is a ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. The coral of the atoll often sits atop the rim of an extinct seamount or volcano which has eroded or subsided partially beneath the water. The lagoon forms over the volcanic crater or caldera while the higher rim remains above water or at shallow depths that permit the coral to grow and form the reefs. For the atoll to persist, continued erosion or subsidence must be at a rate slow enough to permit reef growth upward and outward to replace the lost height.
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, is a small country in South Asia, located in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from the Asian continent. The chain of 26 atolls stretches from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. Comprising a territory spanning roughly 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi), the Maldives is one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states as well as the smallest Asian country by land area and population, with around 427,756 inhabitants. Malé is the capital and the most populated city, traditionally called the "King's Island" for its central location.
1. Alifushi and Etthingili (Powell Islands in the Admiralty Chart) stand on a detached reef of their own with very deep waters (no sounding) between this faru and the northern end of the main Atoll.
2. Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll is 35 miles in length from N to S, and 15 miles across at its broadest part. Its western fringe is composed of a series of round or oval reefs (farus) irregularly placed (a feature peculiar to all the larger Northern Atolls). The centre is heavily dotted with coral patches (giri), some submerged and some awash. The concentration of giri is especially dense towards its SW quarter, close to Kandholhudhu Island (where there is the place most crowded with small reefs and shoals in the whole Maldives), but its narrower northern end is quite clear of reefs. The general depths of the lagoon are from 23 to 27 fathoms.
The capital of Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll is Ungoofaaru. Recently, the island has been reclaimed up to the edge of the reef in order to provide land for social and economic activities for the growing population.
Alifushi, located at the northern end of the atoll, is an island which has been traditionally famous for its skilled boatbuilding carpenters. It now houses shipyards.
Alifushi is one of the inhabited islands of Raa Atoll.
Hanikandu is the channel between Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll and "Fasdhūtere" Atoll, beyond its southern border. This channel is also known as Moresby Channel in the honor of Robert Moresby, an almost forgotten captain and draughtsman, who with much patience and hard work charted all the Atolls of the Maldives.
Robert Moresby was a captain of the East India Company's Bombay Marine/Indian Navy who distinguished himself as a hydrographer, maritime surveyor and draughtsman.
The Maldives are formed by a number of natural atolls plus atolls in the form of a few islands and isolated reefs today which form a pattern stretching from 7 degrees 10′ North to 0 degrees 45′ South.
Formerly this atoll was off-limits for tourists, but since the late 1990s there was a change in government policy. The main tourist resort island on Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll is Meedhupparu.
Meedhupparu is a coral island on the east of the Northern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll in the Maldives.
Faafu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives.
Haa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives.
Haa Dhaalu Atoll is the code name based on the letters of the Maldivian alphabet commonly used to refer to the administrative division officially known as South Thiladhunmathi Atoll in the Maldives.
Noonu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives corresponding to the southern section of Miladhunmadulu Atoll. The capital is Manadhoo. Total population of Noonu Atoll is around 10,000 people.
Raa Atoll is an administrative division from the Maldives. The capital is Ungoofaaru. It includes Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll proper and the island of Alifushi.
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.
Lhaviyani Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. Its abbreviation is Lh.
Alif Alif Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It was created on March 1, 1984, combining northern section of Ari Atoll, the small Rasdhukuramathi Atoll, and the isolated island of Thoddoo. Many of the islands in this atoll have been inhabited since ancient times and have archaeological remains from the Maldivian Buddhist period.
Mulaku Atoll or Meemu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It corresponds to the natural atoll of the same name, also known as Mulak Atoll or 'Mulakatolhu'.
Dhaalu' Atoll is one of the atolls of the Maldives. It corresponds to the natural atoll of the same name.
Ross Atoll is a small atoll in the Admiralty Chart with an almost round lagoon. It is located at about five miles from the Northeast point of Ari Atoll.
Gaafaru is one of the inhabited islands of Kaafu Atoll, the only island of the natural atoll known as Gaafaru.
Rasdhoo is an inhabited island of the Maldives. It is also the capital of the Alif Alif Atoll administrative division.
Southern Maalhosmadulu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It consists of two separate natural atolls, namely the southern part of Maalhosmadulhu Atoll and the smaller natural atoll known as Goifulhafehendhu Atoll. Situated on the west of the Maldives atoll chain, it consists of 75 islands of which 13 are inhabited with a population of over 11,000 people. The remaining 57 islands are uninhabited, in addition to five islands being developed as resorts. Thulhaadhoo Island is traditionally well known for its lacquerwork handicrafts.
Narizlandia is a group of natural atolls in the Republic of Maldives.
Kolhumadulu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It corresponds to the natural atoll of the same name. The ancient name of the island was Kolhumaduva during the time of King Koimala who united all atolls of the Maldives under one kingdom for the first time.
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.
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.