Gnaviyani Atoll

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Gnaviyani Atoll
Atoll Summary
Administrative name	Gnaviyani Atoll
Atoll name	Fuvammulah
Location	0° 15' S and 0° 20' S
Letter	R
Abbreviation	Gn (ޏ)
Capital	Fuvammulah
Population	10,270
No. of Islands	1
Inhabited Islands	1
Atoll Chief	Ahmed Moosa[1]
Inhabited Islands
Fuvammulah
Uninhabited Islands
Resort islands, Airports and Industrial islands are also considered uninhabited

Gnaviyani Atoll is one of the administrative divisions of the Maldives. It corresponds to the island known as Fuvammulah in the local language and Fua Mulaku in the International Navigational Charts and by H. C. P. Bell, the first person who made serious research on the Maldives. Surfacewise this is the smallest administrative unit in the Maldives, situated in the Equatorial Channel (Addu Kandu) between Huvadhu Atoll and Addu Atoll. Fua Mulaku is not a true (or natural) atoll, for it consists of only one island, which is, however, one of the largest islands in the Maldives, with a land area of 4,2 km²[2]. Fua Mulaku was traditionally divided into nine villages (clockwise from the northern end): Dhadimago, Hōdhado, Mālegan, Dūndigan, Funādo, Miskimmago, Dhashokubai, Mādhado and Diguvāndo. Nowadays the number of villages has been reduced to eight, since the village of Dashokubai was merged with Miskimmago.

This island was depopulated and resettled twice in the last thousand years owing to lethal epidemics.

This island is known by geographers as Fua Mulaku. This name is more widely known. The origin of this name is in the ancient local poem 'Rashoveshi' where the name of the island in the first line is in the vocative: "Fua Mulaku nan ivē medu adi fen heu rashē..."

NOTE: Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa, etc. are code letters assigned to the present administrative divisions of the Maldives. They are not the proper names of these divisions or atolls. The order followed by the code letters is from North to South, beginning with the first letters of the Dhivehi alphabet. 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).The introduction of code-letter names has been a source of much puzzlement and misunderstandings, especially among foreigners. Many people have come to think that the code-letter of the administrative atoll is its new name and that it has replaced its geographical name. Under such circumstances it is hard to know which is the correct name to use.

Aware of the extent of this problem, Maldivian expert Mr. Ibrahim Luthfee wrote a book on Maldivian geography before he died. With this book, which is unfortunately available only in Divehi, the late Mr. Luthfee tried to clear a number of misconceptions that carelessly researched tourist publications have generalized even among Maldivians. Much of this article has been translated and adapted from his posthumous work.

[edit] References

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

v • d • e Administrative divisions of the Maldives

Haa Alif Atoll • Haa Dhaalu Atoll • Shaviyani Atoll • Noonu Atoll • Raa Atoll • Baa Atoll • Lhaviyani Atoll • Kaafu Atoll • Alif Alif Atoll • Alif Dhaal Atoll • Vaavu Atoll • Meemu Atoll • Faafu Atoll • Dhaalu Atoll • Thaa Atoll • Laamu Atoll • Gaafu Alif Atoll • Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll • Gnaviyani Atoll • Seenu Atoll • Malé