Haa Alif Atoll is the code name based on the letters of the Maldivian alphabet commonly used to refer to the administrative division officially known as North Thiladhunmathi Atoll ( Maldivian: ''Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi'') in the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. It is the northernmost of the 19 administrative divisions (known as "Atolls") of the country, and is the third-largest administrative division in terms of population and land area. This administrative division consists of Ihavandhippolhu, the northernmost geographical atoll of the Maldive archipelago, and the northern section of Thiladhunmathi atoll. The capital of North Thiladhunmathi Atoll is the island of Dhidhdhoo where the Secretariat of North Thiladhunmathi Atoll Council is located.

Geography

The Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll administrative division consists of a total of 43 islands spread over two natural geographic atolls, namely Northern Thiladhunmathi, and Ihavandhippolhu. Northern Thiladhunmathi is the northernmost portion of the huge Thiladhunmathi Atoll. Thiladhunmathi Atoll was administratively divided into northern and southern divisions in 1958. Ihavandhippolhu lies to the north of Northern Thiladhunmathi, with the Ihavandhoo Kandu channel separating the two, and is the northernmost atoll of the Maldives. It is a small natural atoll 22 km in length. It has 25 islands lying all around the boundary reef. One long barrier reef forms the western side of the atoll. There are several coral patches in the lagoon and the general depth in the centre is 20 to 30 fathoms (35 to 55 m). Ihavandhippolhu is separated from the

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep (), also known as Laccadives (), is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian sea, located off the Malabar Coast. The name ''Lakshadweep'' means "one lakh islands" in Sanskrit, though the Lac ...

Islands of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

by the broad channel known as Māmalē Kandu (or Maliku Kandu). 5

Islands

Of the 43 islands in the North Thiladhunmathi Atoll administrative division, 14 of them are inhabited and are classified as administrative

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

constituencies. Each of these constituencies have an island council which responds to the North Thiladhunmathi Atoll Council which has its headquarters on Dhidhdhoo.

Island constituencies

Uninhabited Islands

All uninhabited islands in Haa Alif Atoll are under the control of the North Thiladhunmathi Atoll Council. Resort Islands Other Uninhabited Islands

Disappeared Islands

These are islands which during recorded history, have been completely eroded away, claimed by the sea due to the sea-level rise associated with global warming or assimilated by other islands. *Gasthirifinolhu *Gudhanfushi *Huraa *Nasfaru *Thiladhoo (merged into Dhidhdhoo, it was after this island that the atoll got its name of 'Thiladhunmathi') *Thinadhoo

Administration

Atoll Council

The North Thiladhunmathi Atoll administrative division is governed by an Atoll Council. The atoll council was created in 2011 with the enactment of the Decentralization Bill, which saw the introduction of local governance to the country. The secretariat of the atoll council is located on Dhidhdhoo. The atoll is further divided up into 5 political wards each with one

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Members

History

In Matheerah there is a famous shrine (ziyaraiy, mausoleum) which was visited formerly by the Maldive kings and their families in order to seek blessings. Such tomb visits are aspects of

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality ...

that existed among the Maldivians until very recent times. Hence this island was referred to with the honorific title Matheerahffulhu (High (noble) Island) by the Sufi Muslims of the Maldives at that time. Traditionally the northernmost atoll of the Maldives was

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory o ...

(Maliku). Fishermen from

Thuraakunu Thuraakunu ( Dhivehi: ތުރާކުނު) is the northernmost island in Maldives, one of the fourteen inhabited islands of Haa Alif Atoll and is geographically part of the ''Ihavandhippolhu'' Atoll in the Maldives. It is an island-level administra ...

and from Minicoy often crossed the Maliku Kandu on their boats to visit each other's islands. Marriage alliances were common. Now Minicoy is a part of

and communication is highly restricted. As an administrative division, North Thiladhunmathi Atoll was created when the huge natural Thiladhunmathi Atoll was administratively divided into northern and southern divisions in 1958.

References

* ''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. {{coord, 6.88, N, 73.112222, E, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Administrative atolls of the Maldives