Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll

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Haa Alifu Atoll
Haa Alif Atoll location map.svg
Country Maldives
Corresponding geographic atoll(s)Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi
Location6° 53' N and 73° E
Capital Dhiddhoo
Government
  Atoll ChiefMohamed Rasheed
Population
  Total22,737
Letter code
A
Dhivehi letter code
HA (ހއ)
 • Number of islands44
 • Inhabited islands Baarah Dhiddhoo Filladhoo Hoarafushi Ihavandhoo Kelaa Maarandhoo Mulhadhoo Muraidhoo Thakandhoo Thuraakunu Uligamu Utheemu Vashafaru
 • Uninhabited islands Alidhoo Hathifushi Alidhuffarufinolhu Berinmadhoo Beenaafushi Dhapparu Dhapparuhuraa Dhigufaruhura Dhonakulhi Gaafushi Gaamathikulhudhoo Gallandhoo Govvaafushi Huraa Huvahandhoo Innafinolhu Kudafinolhu Maafahi Maafinolhu Madulu Manafaru Matheerah Medhafushi Mulidhoo Naridhoo Umaraiffinolhu Ungulifinolhu Vagaaru Velifinolhu
Resort islands(*), airports(¤) and industrial islands are also considered uninhabited.

Haa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi (Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll) is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives.

As the administrative division known as Haa Alif, it includes Ihavandhippolhu, the northernmost natural atoll of the Maldive archipelago, as well as a section of the larger Thiladhunmathi or Tiladummati Atoll. Thiladhunmathi was divided into its northern and southern divisions on May 21, 1958. The north division was integrated with Ihavandhippolhu forming administratively a new atoll called Haa Alif atoll or Thiladhumathi North. In total Haa Alif atoll contains 42 islands, 14 of which are inhabited. There are three tourist resorts in the atoll. North Thiladhunmath is third largest atoll in the Maldives in terms of population and land area.

The atoll being at the north tip of the Maldives is the closest to Sri Lanka and India.

Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll contains 42 islands, 16 of which are inhabited.

NOTE:Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa, Kaafu, etc. are code letters assigned to the present administrative divisions of the Maldives. They are not the proper names of the natural atolls that make up these divisions. Some atolls are divided into two administrative divisions while other divisions are made up of two or more natural atolls. The order followed by the code letters is from North to South, beginning with the first letters of the Thaana alphabet used in Dhivehi. These code letters are not accurate from the geographical and cultural point of view. However, they have become popular among tourists and foreigners in the Maldives who find them easier to pronounce than the true atoll names in Dhivehi, (save a few exceptions, like Ari Atoll). [1]

History

In Matheerah there is a famous shrine (ziyaraiy, mausoleum) which was visited formerly by the Maldive kings and their families in order to seek blessings. Such tomb visits are aspects of Sufism that existed among the Maldivians until very recent times. Hence this island was referred to with the honorific title Matheerahffulhu (High (noble) Island) by the Sufi Muslims of the Maldives at that time.

Traditionally the northernmost atoll of the Maldives was Minicoy (Maliku). Fishermen from Thuraakunu and from Minicoy often crossed the Maliku Kandu on their boats to visit each other's islands. Marriage alliances were common. Now Minicoy is a part of India and communication is highly restricted.

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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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alif Alif Atoll</span> Atoll in Maldives

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnaviyani Atoll</span> Atoll of the Maldives

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.

Dhidhdhoo is the capital of Haa Alif Atoll in the Maldives. Ranked the 2nd most populated place in the north after Kulhudhuffushi City. Located in the center of the atoll, Dhidhdhoo is governed by Dhidhdhoo Island Council under the Local Government Authority. This island is famous for having the least crime rates amongst the 10 most populated islands in the nation consecutively for a number of years.

Thuraakunu is the northernmost island in Maldives, one of the fourteen inhabited islands of Haa Alif Atoll and is geographically part of the Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the Maldives. It is an island-level administrative constituency governed by the Thuraakunu Island Council.

Rasdhoo is an inhabited island of the Maldives. It is also the capital of the Alif Alif Atoll administrative division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faadhippolhu Atoll</span> Place in Maldives

Faadhippolhu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It corresponds to the natural atoll of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administrative divisions of the Maldives</span> Administrative divisions 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.

Maliku Kandu and Māmalē Kandu Divehi are the traditional names of the broad Minicoy Channel between Minicoy and Ihavandippolhu in the north of the Maldives. The latter name is given after the Malabar merchant Maamaley Marakkaaru who controlled most of the sea trade along this route before the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean. The maritime boundary between the Maldives and India runs through the channel.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haa Alif Atoll</span> Atoll of 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 Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll in the Maldives.

References

  1. Tim Godfrey, Atlas of the Maldives, Atoll Editions 2004

6°52′00″N73°00′00″E / 6.86667°N 73°E / 6.86667; 73