What is the territorial-administrative division of the Maldives?

Until recently, the Maldives consisted of 20 administrative atolls under the central government of Male. However, the adoption in 2010 of the Law on Decentralization and the Administrative Territorial Reform divided the country into 189 administrative districts. Of these, the law identifies 189 islands (which in turn are grouped into 17 atolls) and 4 cities. At the same time, all administrative units are under the control of local councils, which keep in touch with the central government.

Without going into the details of Maldives legislation, we note that today the Maldives is divided into twenty-one administrative divisions: 17 administrative atolls and 4 cities (including the capital of Male).

Asad Photo Maldives

Town

The city status is possessed by settlements in which more than 10,000 people live. Moreover, they must meet certain criteria, including economic ones.

The city is divided into districts. The city is governed by the city council.

Today there are 4 cities in the Maldives: Male, Fuvahmulah, Addu and Kulhudhuffushi.

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Atoll

It is a well-known fact that the Maldives archipelago consists of 26 atolls. However, speaking about the Maldives, it should be borne in mind that here the concept of "natural atolls" is not identical with the concept of "administrative atoll". Despite the fact that in most cases natural atolls coincide with administrative ones, there are exceptions, therefore there are 26 natural atolls and 17 administrative atolls. Each atoll has its own capital.

A list of atolls and their administrative centers is shown in the table below.

The administrative atoll is governed by the atoll council. He also manages the resort islands within the territory belonging to him.

Island

As in the case of atolls, it is necessary to distinguish between the generally accepted concept of "island", as a land area surrounded by water, and the administrative definition of "island". If the first geographical concept does not raise any questions and does not require additional explanations, then from an administrative point of view, an island means a certain residential area within the administrative atoll. Such an island is also governed by a council. There are 189 such islands in the Maldives, while there are 1192 natural islands.

Masroor Ahmed