Malé is the capital and largest city (in terms of population) in the
Republic of Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll
(Kaafu Atoll). It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the
Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient
Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was
also called Mahal. Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by
fortifications and gates (doroshi). The Royal Palace (Gan'duvaru) was
destroyed along with the picturesque forts (kotte) and bastions (buruzu)
when the city was remodelled under President Ibrahim Nasir's rule after the
abolition of the monarchy. In recent years, the island has been considerably
expanded through landfilling operations.
Although Malé is geographically located in Male, Kaafu Atoll,
administratively it is not considered part of it. The central part of the
city is formed by Malé Island. Three more islands are part of the city. A
commercial harbour is located on Malé Island. It is the heart of all
commercial activities in the country.
The central island is heavily urbanized, with the built-up area taking up
essentially its entire landmass. Slightly less than one third of the nation
s population lives in the capital city. Many, if not most, Maldivians and
foreign workers in Maldives find themselves in occasional short term
residence on the island since it is the only entry point to the nation and
the centre of all administration and bureaucracy.
Subdivisions
The city is divided into six divisions, four of which are on Malé Island:
Henveiru, Galolhu, Maafannu and Macchangolhi. The nearby island of Vilingili
formerly a tourist resort and prior to that a prison, is the fifth division
(Vilimalé). The sixth division is Hulhumalé, an artificial island settled
since 2004. In addition, the airport Island Hulhule is part of the city.
There are plans for creating a port island on Gulhi Falu reef.
The Island of Malé is worldwide the second most densely populated island,
after Ap Lei Chau of Hong Kong.
Since there is no surrounding countryside, all infrastructure has to be
located in the city itself. Water is provided from desalinated ground water;
the water works pumps brackish water from 50-60m deep wells in the city and
desalinates that using reverse osmosis. Electric power is generated in the
city using diesel generators. Sewage is pumped unprocessed into the sea.
Solid waste is transported to nearby islands, where it is used to fill in
lagoons. The airport was built in this way, and currently the Thilafushi
lagoon is being filled in.
Many government buildings and agencies are located on the waterfront. Malé
International Airport is on adjacent Hulhule Island which includes a
seaplane base for internal transportation. Several land reclamation projects
have expanded the harbour.
The Islamic Centre, housing the main mosque Masjid-al-Sultan Mohammed
Thakurufaanu-al-A'z'am of Malé
Etymology
The name Malé is taken from the word "Mahaalay" which has come from the
Sanskrit language. The name is derived from maha, meaning "big" or "great"
and aalay meaning house. Generally the word Mahaalay is used for the palace
of a king or capital (king's island) in Sanskrit, e.g. Mahaalay of King Asok
However, the folktale below suggests a different origin of the name.
The whole island group, the Maldives, is named after its capital. The word
Maldives" means "The islands (dives) of Malé'".
Origins of Malé
The first settlers in the Maldive islands were Dravidian people from the
nearest shores, which are in the modern Indian Subcontinent and coastal
Ceylon. Comparative studies of Maldivian linguistic, oral and other cultural
traditions, in addition to folklore, point to a strong Dravidian influence
on Maldivian society, centered in Malé, from ancient times. The people of
Giraavaru, an island located in Malé Atoll (now a tourist resort, after the
forced diaspora of its inhabitants) claim to descend from the first settlers
of the Maldives, ancient Tamils.
It is said that Giraavaru fishermen used to go regularly to a certain large
sandbank (finolhu) at the southern end of their atoll to clean tuna fish
after a good catch. Owing to the large amount of tuna fish offal and blood,
the waters around that sandbank looked like a big pool of blood (maa ley
gandeh). "Maa" (from the Sanskrit "Maha"), meaning big, and "Lē" meaning
blood. Traditionally the first inhabitants of the Maldives, which include
the Giravaru people, didn't have kings. They lived in a simple society and
were ruled by local headmen. But one day a prince from the Subcontinent
called Koimala arrived to Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship.
The people of Giraavaru spotted his vessel from afar and welcomed him. They
allowed Prince Koimala to settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the
waters tainted with fish blood. Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is
said that the first tree that grew on it was the papaya tree. However this
could refer to any tree that bears edible fruit as the archaic Dhivehi word
(and Mahal word even today) for fruit was the same as that for the papaya
(falhoa). As time went by the local islanders accepted the rule of this
Northern Prince. A palace was built and the island was formally named Maa-le
(Malé), while the nearest island was named Hulhu-le.
The names of the main four wards or divisions of Malé Island are said to have been given by the aboriginal Giraavaru fishermen: Maafannu from "maa" (big) and "fannu" (a place where a village path meets the sea), Henveiru from "en-beyru" (out where fishermen got their bait), Galolhu from "galu-olhu" (stone groove) and, Macchangolhi from "mathi-angolhi" (windward path-fork).
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