Get to know the different types of islands in the Maldives

Where nature had created its tropical masterpiece..

The Islands of Maldives have three different types – the inhabited islands, uninhabited islands, and the disappeared islands. Each of the Maldives‘ 26 atolls, from the northern Haa Alif Atoll to the southern Addu Atoll, has its own list of the 3 different types of islands summing up to about less than 20 islands per category, surprisingly. Out of the 1,192 islands of the Maldives, not all of them are inhabited by the population. Inhabited islands are the ones that are officially and legislatively recognized as towns, farms, villages, and communities with permanent human habitation. Inhabited islands have their own island chiefs or “katheeb” who are appointed by the president and serve as the administrative head of the island. Inhabited islands are either occupied by tourist resorts or by the local community on account of the Government ruling that there should be no combination of the two in the same island. As for the uninhabited islands, they are the islands used for industrial and agricultural purposes. These islands are the ones usually occupied by beach resorts and hotels for tourism and economic growth purposes. Some of these islands are valuable breeding grounds for various species of sea birds and sea turtles. Disappeared islands are the ones that were completely eroded away due to the rise of sea level associated with global warming or assimilation of other islands. Some of these islands were previously inhabited and were important to the rich history of the country. While there are 26 geographical atolls in the Maldives, only 11 of them are most likely to be seen by tourists as the Maldivian Government has taken steps in restricting the impact of tourism in the local community.