Kaafu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It consists of Kaashidhoo Island, Gahaafaru Atoll, and Malé Atoll (which includes the North Malé Atoll and the South Malé Atoll). It also has a number of uninhabited islands.

Malé, capital of the Maldives is naturally located within the North Malé Atoll, but it is not part of the Kaafu administrative division.

NOTE: Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa, Kaafu, etc. are code letters assigned to the present administrative divisions of the Maldives. They are not the proper names of the natural atolls that make up these divisions. Some atolls are divided into two administrative divisions while other divisions are made up of two or more natural atolls. The order followed by the code letters is from North to South, beginning with the first letters of the Thaana alphabet used in Dhivehi. These code letters are not accurate from the geographical and cultural point of view. However, they have become popular among tourists and foreigners in the Maldives who find them easier to pronounce than the true atoll names in Dhivehi, (save a few exceptions, like Ari Atoll).^[1]

Uninhabited Islands

Although uninhabited, some islands of the atoll have commercial uses. These include

• Baros which was previously inhabited and abandoned only during the reign of Sultan Hassan Nooraddeen I for unknown reasons. It is now the home of the Baros Island Resort http://www.baros.com/

• Dhoonidhoo which houses a detention unit http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/ASA29/010/2006/fr/5799b685-d3d1-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/asa290102006en.pdf.

• Farukolhufushi which housed a Club Med until the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Another resort named Club Faru http://www.clubfaru.com/english/ opened here around the end of 2005.

• Ihuru on which is located a Maldivian 4 star resort, the "Angsana Resort and Spa Maldives"

• Kanifinolhu which houses a Club Med village (Club Med Kani http://www.clubmed.co.uk/cm/resorts-indian-ocean-maldives-kani-the-resort_p-341-l-EN-v-KANC-pe-09E-r-1-ac-vh.html), the only one on the atoll since the Club Med Faru on Farukolhufushi was destroyed.

• Lankanfinolhu which has been home to a tourist-resort called "Paradise Island Resort" http://www.maldivestourism.net/resorts/paradise-island-resort-and-spa/ since 1979.

• Dhigufinolhu which has housed a 5-star Maldivian resort, Anantara Dhigu Resort and Spa^[2], since September 2006.

References

• Divehi T?r?khah Au Alikameh. Divehi Bah?i T?rikhah Khidmaiykur? Qaum? Markazu. Reprint 1958 edn. Malé 1990.
• Divehiraajjege J?graf?ge Vanavaru. Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. G.S?san?.
• Romero-Frias, Xavier. The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999.

Island of Lankanfushi from Lankanfinolhu- two of the many tourist resorts in Kaafu Atoll

Malé, the capital of the Maldives, as viewed from Vilingilli island, Kaafu Atoll

Surfing at the famous Lohi's Break, off Lhohifushi island in Kaafu Atoll, Maldives

cs:Káfu de:Kaafu dv:???? ?????? es:Atolón Kaafu fr:Kaafu id:Atol Kaafu it:Atollo Kaafu he:???? ???? nl:Kaafu-atol sk:Káfu

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