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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 Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll ( Maldivian: ''Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi'') in the
Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...
. It is the northernmost of the 19
administrative divisions Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
(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 () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...
Islands of
India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
by the broad channel known as Māmalē Kandu (or Maliku Kandu).


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 a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
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, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
.


Members


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