Addu atoll

Addu atoll
	NASA satellite image of the Addu Atoll
Waters	Lakkadive Sea ; (Indian Ocean)
archipelago	Maldives
Geographical location	0 ° 38 ′ S , 73 ° 9 ′ E Coordinates: 0 ° 38 ′ S , 73 ° 9 ′ E
Number of islands	23
Main island	Hithadhoo
Land area	9.41 km²
Lagoon area	76.71 km²
total area	131.89 km²
Residents	28,000
	Map of Addu

The Addu Atoll ( Dhivehi އައްޑުއަތޮޅު, administrative: Seenu Atoll ,ސ) is an atoll in the Laccadive Sea , a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean .

It is the southernmost atoll in the Maldives archipelago and is just a little south of the equator . The total area of the atoll is 131.89 km². 76.71 km² of this is accounted for by the lagoon , 9.41 km² by the 23 islands, and the remainder by the reef platform. The lagoon is up to 78.6 meters deep.

The largest islands are:

Hithadhoo 3.6112 km²
Gan 2.2561 km²
Meedhoo 2.0495 km²

history

Since the British connected all the islands on the west coast of the Addu Atoll with dams in the 1940s, it has been possible to move overland from Gan to the northernmost island, Hithadhoo.

The atoll was initially a base of the Royal Navy from 1941 , and from 1957 a base of the Royal Air Force . The naval base was also used by the Australian Imperial Force , while GAN Airport served primarily as a stopover for aircraft en route to Singapore . Kookaburra missiles were also launched from Gan . In 1971 the base was given up and parts of the facilities were converted into quarters for tourists.

From 1959 to 1963 the atoll, together with the Huvadu Atoll (then called Suvadiva ) and the island of Fuvahmulah in the south of the Maldives, formed the internationally recognized republic of Suvadiva .

In January 2011, after a long conflict between the Nasheed government and the opposition, the inhabited islands of the west coast and Meedhoo were combined with Hulhudhoo on the northeast corner of the atoll to form the city of Addu City . Addu City and the capital Malé are the only two cities in the country and the only places that stretch over more than one island.

traffic

The atoll is accessible through Gan Airport .

Web links

Information about Addu (English)
Pictures from Addu on flickr
Report on the basis of the Royal Navy (English)
Reef Studies at Addu Atoll . (PDF; 5.28 MB) Atoll Research Bulletin 116, 1964

Individual evidence

^ Haveeru Online: President re-declares Addu a city . ( Memento from April 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

[1] Haveeru Online: President re-declares Addu a city . ( Memento from April 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )