Lhaviyani Atoll
Encyclopedia
Lhaviyani Atoll or Faadhippolhu Atoll is an administrative division
Administrative divisions of 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...

 of the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

.

Lhaviyani Atoll is located between 5° 15" and 5° 35" N and between 73° 20" and 74° 40" E. The capital of the atoll is Naifaru. There are a total of 54 islands in the atoll of which only 5 are inhabited, namely Naifaru, Hinnavaru, Kurendhoo, Olhuvelifushi and the recently settled Maafilaafushi.

The island of Maafilaafushi
Maafilaafushi (Lhaviyani Atoll)
Maafilaafushi is one of the inhabited islands of Lhaviyani Atoll in the Maldives. Millions of years ago, a great range of volcanoes rose from the floor of the Indian Ocean and burst through its surface...

 was resettled in the 1980s in order to relieve the lack of land availability in Malé
Malé
Malé , is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll . It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where...

. The island once served as the capital of the separatist Kingdom of Boduthiladhunmathi. In Mohamed Rannabadeyri Thakuru with the help of Adhi Raja of Cannanore
Kolathunadu
Kolathunādu was one of the three most powerful feudal kingdoms on the Malabar Coast during the arrival Portuguese Armadas to India along with Zamorin's Calicut and Venad. Kolathunād had its capital at Ezhimala and was ruled by Kolathiri royal family and roughly comprised the whole northern...

 attacked Male' and tried to overthrow the kingdom of Ibrahim Kalaafaanu (Sultan Ibrahim III 1585-1609) in However being unable to take control of the capital Male' they fled to Faadhippolhu where Mohamed Rannabadeyri controlled the northern atolls of the Maldives until he was overthrown by Sultan Muhammad Imaduddin I
Muhammad Imaduddin I
Sultan Mohammed Imaduddin I was the sultan of Maldives from 11 December 1628 to 1648.He was born on 1580 in the royal palace . He was the son of umar maafai kilage and mariyam kabaidhi kilage. After ruling for 20 years the sultan died at the age of 68. And he was buried in ethere Koilu Mosque where...

 (1620-1648).

There are four resorts in the atoll, namely Kuredhu, Komandoo, Kanuhuraa and Palmbeach . The only canning factory in the country is in Felivaru located between Naifaru and Hinnavaru.

Traditionally, Maldivians call this atoll simply 'Faadhippolhu', without adding the word 'Atholhu' at the end. This is done only with the names of some atolls. In the early 12th century, during the reign of King Koimala Siri Mahaabarana Mahaa Radun- the first king to rule over all the Maldive islands- this atoll was called Faadu Bur.

NOTE: Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa, Kaafu, etc. (including Lhaviyani) are code letters assigned to the present administrative divisions of the Maldives. They are not the proper names of the natural atolls
Atolls of the Maldives
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....

 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
Thaana
Thaana, Taana or Tāna is the modern writing system of the Divehi language spoken in the Maldives. Taana has characteristics of both an abugida and a true alphabet , with consonants derived from indigenous and Arabic numerals, and vowels derived from the vowel diacritics of the Arabic abjad...

 alphabet used in Dhivehi
Dhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...

. 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).

External links

http://www.lhaviyani.gov.mv
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