Addu Atoll is the southern most Atoll in the Maldives, about 65 km (42 miles) South of the Equator and about 480 km (300 miles) south of Male’.

Addu has 32 islands forming the outline shape of a heart 18 km (11 miles) wide x 15 km (10 miles) long, creating the longest stretch of coral reef and beach and the largest lagoon in the Maldives.

Of the 32 islands, 6 are inhabited, 1 is the airport island of Gan and 25 are uninhabited.
The Gan International Airport serves both domestic and international flights, much the same as Male’, and traces its origins to the British as a Royal Air Force base during WWII.

The islands on Addu’s western side, from south to north, include Gan, Feydoo, Maradhoo Feydoo, Maradhoo and Hithadhoo.

The islands on Addu’s eastern side, from north to south, include Meedhoo, Hulhudhoo, Herathera (Herathera Island Resort), Gesskalhuhera, Mulikede, Villingili (ShangraLa Island Resort) and Madihera.

The weather in Addu is the same as the rest of the Maldives, the air temperature averages 30 C (86 F) and the water temperature about 27 C (81 F).

The population of Addu is almost 30,000, second only to Male’s 75,000 residents. Half of Addu’s residents live on Hithadhoo, the capital island where there is a secondary and a higher secondary school, a regional hospital, a telecommunications center, a fish processing plant, and a regional port (under construction).

The paved road from Gan has bridges which link to Feydoo, Maradhoo and Hithadhoo, a distance of 17 km (11 miles), and is the longest road and connecting to the largest land mass in the Maldives.

In addition to the national language, Dhivehi, a local dialect is spoken as well as English. The word atoll is derived from the Dhivehi word atholhu. Indian traders named the country Maladiv, from the Sanscrit for ‘garland of islands’.
Dhivehi belongs to the Indo-Iranian language group, closest to ancient Sinhala with links to Sanskrit and other ancient tongues from north-west India, as well as elements of Tulu from the Malabar Coast of Southern India, with its Tamil roots.

The local economy is based on fishing, agriculture, construction and tourism.

The first settlers may have been Naga and Yakka people from Sri Lanka and Dravidians from southern India. It is said that Aryans who sailed reed boats from Lothal in the Indus Valley at as early as the 4th century BC probably followed them.
Hinduism brought by Tamils and Buddhism by Sinhalese in turn evolved to a growing Arab influence and to Islam in the 12th century.

Located at the crossroads of the shipping lanes on the main seaway around the Indian subcontinent, the Maldives has long been a meeting point for mariners. When Cheng Ho traveled from China in the 15th century to East Africa he passed through the Maldives as did others from Indonesia, the Far East, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
With their beautiful blend of Indian, Arabian, African and Asian features, the faces that greet you reflect this coming and going from time immemorial.

Any navigator wishing to round the southern point of Asia had to travel through the two open channels near the Equator in the southern Maldives. In the north, the 64 km wide strait between Sri Lanka and India is to shallow for safe passage and the northern Maldives form a treacherous coral reef barrier.

This maze of islands and reefs has become littered with shipwrecks from all over the world through the centuries, now an attraction for SCUBA divers.

Charles Darwin suggested that an atoll was created when volcanic land emerged from the sea and a coral reef grew around its edge. As it sank gradually back into the sea, it left the coral reefs encircling a shallow water filled lagoon. Later, islands were formed as currents and tides swept coral debris onto sand bars, and eventually these were colonized by plants and trees.

Moldavians are totally in harmony with their maritime environment, for the sea is ever constant. Yet, while it is the source of life and livelihood, it is also a capricious and volatile threat, awesome in its power. As with all seafarers, Moldavians carefully observe the patterns of nature and adapt their lives accordingly.
Central to their existence is the weather, which determines when they go fishing, plant crops, or sail over the horizon.

Historically, Maldives society was distinguished by strong social and class divisions. Now, such distinctions are a thing of the past. A long time ago, Addu Atoll was ruled by families designated by the sultans in Male’.

Traditionally, men eat before the rest of the family and make all the major decisions, while the women stay at home and look after the family. This division of labor is not as strong, today, although this practice has long reflected the demands of island life and the restrictions of traditional Islam. There is no poverty.
The island community and the extended family act as a safety net for its members. No one sleeps in the streets or goes hungry. In this sense, being on a small atoll in a small nation has its blessings, for everyone knows each other and is willing to lend a hand. Charity remains one of the tenets of Islam and so in the society.

The history of the Maldives may be divided in two periods, before and after the conversion to Islam.

The pre-Islam period is not well documented; a mixture of myth and conjecture based on inconclusive archaeological discoveries provides much of the information available. Existence of the Maldives as a community first appears as early as 2000 BC when serving as a transit point for maritime civilizations such as the Egyptians and Romans. Perhaps, the elegantly curved bow of the Dhoni and the beautifully embroidered collar pieces of dresses are modeled from the Egyptians.

The first person to make a study of the pre-Islamic history was the British civil servant H. C. P. Bell, who first landed when he was shipwrecked in 1879. He later returned as Commissioner of the Ceylon Civil Service to continue his studies.

From the 12th century, the Arabs most influenced the course of Maldives history. They had been plying the Maldives waters for 500 years when in 1498, the Portuguese Vasco de Gama first rounded the tip of Africa and entered the Indian Ocean. In 1507, another Portuguese, Dom Lourenco de Almeida discovered Maldives for Portugal.
An interesting anecdote is that throughout the Indian Ocean, cowrie shells were uses as small change, and that the Arabs took on sacks of cowrie shells as ballast for their ships. Maldivian cowries have been found as far north as the Arctic Circle in Norway and as far west as Mali.

In 1153, an Arab trader, Abu al Barakaath, a Berber from North Africa, exorcised the demon god Rannamaari (who reportedly came from the sea on Male’ every full moon to rape and kill a local virgin who was offered as a sacrifice), and thereby won the gratitude and admiration of all. He accomplished this feat by dressing as a girl and spending all night reading the Qur’an. It was all too much for the sea monster which departed, never to return.
The sultan King Kaliminja was so impressed that he converted to Islam and persuaded his subjects to follow suit, a conversion which took more than 30 years to complete. The old idols were broken and the temples razed to the ground. Barakaath’s grave on Male’, near the Friday Mosque, is a local shrine.
A more political interpretation of these events is that Islam was adopted not because of some miracle in scaring away a supernatural being but because the ruling elite realized they were unable to hold Buddhist Sri Lanka at arm’s length without the support of their powerful Islamic neighbors.

This is the beginning of recorded history, in the year 583 of the Holy Prophet. During the next 360 years, 44 sultans from two dynasties ruled. Six sultanic dynasties have ruled since the conversion to Islam.

From 1513 to 1649, increased interaction with European states occurred. In 1517, a trading treaty was entered into with the Portuguese based in their colony of Goa, India, soon after which the Portuguese built a fort in Male’ and commanded great influence.
In 1558, they killed Sultan Ali VI and took over rule, and Sultan Ali VI’s death is now a national anniversary celebrated as Martyr’s Day.

In 1565, after 8 years of guerilla war, patriotic local rebels landed on Male’ and massacred the Portuguese community of more than 300, the night before the Portuguese dictated deadline for all local inhabitants to become Christians or face the death penalty. In 1573, Mohammed Thakurufaanu was named Sultan in honor of his role in the fight to regain independence.
He is now revered as a hero and his victory commemorated annually as National Day. Never again was the Maldives ruled by a foreign power.

In 1752, Male’ was attacked by a fleet of ships led by Ali Raja of Malabar. After ransacking the Palace and burning many buildings, these pirates remained for several months until thrown out by a local group led by Hassan Manikufanu.
The Ali Raja continued to lay siege until driven away with the help of a fleet of French Men O’War ships under the command of Monsieur Termeillier, known affectionately by Maldivians as Moustri Mili and who is buried in Male’.
Once again, in 1761, Ali Raja again attacked but was driven off.

In 1835, the first survey was undertaken by the British Admiralty under the command of Robert Moresby.

In 1887, in response to growing concern of commercial domination by merchants, an agreement was signed with the British recognizing Maldivian Statehood and formalizing it as a Protectorate.

In 1932, the first written Constitution was proclaimed, establishing a Sultanate as the vehicle for political power.

From 1941 to 1976, Gan was a British Air Force Base. During WWII British naval bases were constructed at both the north and south ends of the Maldives.

By 1942, in direct response to events resulting from WWII, the Constitution was repealed and replaced by a new draft. The first Prime Minister, Mohammed Amin Didi, introduced modernization programs and nationalized the fish export industry to avoid a repeat of the food shortages of prior years.

In 1948, the independence of Ceylon from Great Britain led the Maldives to agree to a defense pact with Britain with provisions concerning non-intervention in its domestic affairs.

In 1953, the First Republic was declared with Mohammed Amin Didi as President; however there was fierce opposition to having abolished the Sultanate.

In 1954, the First Republic was overthrown and the Sultanate restored.

On July 26, 1965, Maldives became independent from Britain and was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1968, the Second Republic was declared with Nasir, President. Soon after, the Maldives was thrown into economic turmoil when the Sri Lankan fishing industry collapsed and there was no market for exported fish.

In 1976, the British withdrew all remaining military forces from Addu Atoll.