Kaafu Atoll

Kaafu Atoll
Atoll Summary
Administrative name	Kaafu Atoll
Atoll name	Malé Atoll
Location	4°25′N 73°30′E / 4.417°N 73.5°E / 4.417; 73.5Coordinates: 4°25′N 73°30′E / 4.417°N 73.5°E / 4.417; 73.5
Letter	H
Abbreviation	K (ކ)
Capital	Maafushi
Population	9886
No. of Islands	107
Inhabited Islands	10
Atoll Chief	Mohamed Adam[1]
Inhabited Islands
Dhiffushi Gaafaru Gulhi Guraidhoo Himmafushi Huraa Kaashidhoo Maafushi Thilafushi Thulusdhoo
Uninhabited Islands
Aarah Akirifushi Asdhoo Baros Bandos Biyaadhoo Bodubandos Bodufinolhu Boduhithi Boduhuraa Bolifushi Dhigufinolhu Dhoonidhoo Ehrruh-haa Enboodhoo Enboodhoofinolhu Eriyadhoo Farukolhufushi Feydhoofinolhu Fihalhohi Funadhoo Furan-nafushi Gasfinolhu Giraavaru Girifushi Gulheegaathuhuraa Helengeli Henbadhoo Huraagandu Ihuru Kagi Kalhuhuraa Kandoomaafushi Kanduoih-giri Kanifinolhu KKanuhuraa Kudabandos Kudafinolhu Kudahithi Kudahuraa Lankanfinolhu Lankanfushi Lhohifushi Lhosfushi Maadhoo Madivaru Mahaanaélhihuraa Makunudhoo Makunufushi Maniyafushi Medhufinolhu Meerufenfushi Nakachchaafushi Olhahali Olhuveli Oligandufinolhu Ran-naalhi Rasfari Thanburudhoo Thulhaagiri Vaadhoo Vaagali Vabbinfaru Vabboahuraa Vammaafushi Velassaru Velifaru Veliganduhuraa Vihamanaafushi Villingilimathidhahuraa Villingilivau Ziyaaraiffushi Resort islands, Airports and Industrial islands are also considered uninhabited

Kaafu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It consists of Kaashidhoo Island, Gahaafaru Atoll, and Malé Atoll (which includes the North Malé Atoll and the South Malé Atoll). It also has a number of uninhabited islands.

Malé, capital of the Maldives is naturally located within the North Malé Atoll, but it is not part of the Kaafu administrative division.

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).^[2]

Uninhabited Islands

Although uninhabited, some islands of the atoll have commercial uses. These include

• Baros which was previously inhabited and abandoned only during the reign of Sultan Hassan Nooraddeen I for unknown reasons. It is now the home of the Baros Island Resort.^[3]
• Bodu Hithi which houses a 5-star Coco Palm resort [1].
• Dhoonidhoo which houses a detention unit [2].
• Farukolhufushi which housed a Club Med until the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Another resort named Club Faru^[4] opened here around the end of 2005.
• Ihuru on which is located a Maldivian 4 star resort, the "Angsana Resort and Spa Maldives"
• Kanifinolhu which houses a Club Med village (Club Med Kani^[5]), the only one on the atoll since the Club Med Faru on Farukolhufushi was destroyed.
• Lankanfinolhu which has been home to a tourist-resort called "Paradise Island Resort"^[6] since 1979.
• Dhigufinolhu which has housed a 5-star Maldivian resort, Anantara Dhigu Resort and Spa,^[7] since September 2006.

Gallery

Island of Lankanfushi from Lankanfinolhu- two of the tourist resorts   Malé, the capital of the Maldives, as viewed from Vilingilli island   Surfing at Lohi's Break, off Lhohifushi island

References

1. ^ http://www.atolls.gov.mv/atollchiefs.asp
2. ^ Tim Godfrey, Atlas of the Maldives, Atoll Editions 2004
3. ^ http://www.baros.com
4. ^ http://www.clubfaru.com/english
5. ^ http://www.clubmed.co.uk/cm/resorts-indian-ocean-maldives-kani-the-resort_p-341-l-EN-v-KANC-pe-09E-r-1-ac-vh.html
6. ^ http://www.maldivestourism.net/resorts/paradise-island-resort-and-spa
7. ^ http://dhigu-maldives.anantara.com/default.aspx

• Divehi Tārīkhah Au Alikameh. Divehi Bahāi Tārikhah Khidmaiykurā Qaumī Markazu. Reprint 1958 edn. Malé 1990.
• Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. G.Sōsanī.
• Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999.