!!!Malé, Maldives

Photos by Oleg Gaponyuk,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

26 November 2021

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

The Republic of Maldives comprises 26 atolls and nearly two thousand
coral islands. Most of them are uninhabited and it is the area where
nature reigns supreme. Several panoramas and 360° tours made by AirPano
and dedicated to these heavenly landscapes have already been published.
Today, we will travel to an unusual part of the Maldives.

[{Image src='01_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

Malé, the capital of the Maldives, has found itself on the same-name
island being 1.87 km long and 1.5 km wide. It is highly urbanized,
almost the entire area is built up and the vacant land is sorely
lacking: the population is growing steadily. The number of inhabitants
has increased from only 5,200 people in 1922 to more than 200,000 a
century later.

[{Image src='02_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

Another great issue of the Maldives archipelago is the threat of
flooding caused by the global sea-level rise. Many of the islands stand
only a meter above sea level, and they may possibly disappear beneath
the waters. The authorities have found a common solution to both
problems.

[{Image src='03_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='450'}]

In 1997, the construction of the artificial island of Hulhumalé was
initiated near the overpopulated capital. For its creation, the special
material mined from the bottom of the nearest shallow lagoon is being
used, as well as processed solid household waste. The capital islands of
Hulhulé and Thilafushi have the same origin. These lands rise above the
surface of the water by two meters, so more and more people are moving
here. Altogether, a third of the total population of the country is
concentrated in the capital, which is spread over several islands.

[{Image src='04_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

At the same time, Hulhumalé remains the fastest-growing island: now it
has become the fourth largest in the Maldives. The population of this
island has already exceeded 50,000 people, and a new one, Hulhumalé-2,
has been added to the original artificial land: it is designed to house
about 240,000 people on this island in the near future.

[{Image src='05_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

Hulhumalé was laid to the northeast of the island of Hulhulé, where
Velana International Airport is located with a road connecting these
islands. But it was impossible to travel by land to the main island
until 2018. It was the opening of the Sinamale Bridge between Hulhulé
and Malé that united the three largest metropolitan islands into a
single road chain.

[{Image src='06_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

The two-lane bridge which includes separate lanes for motorcycles and
pedestrians stretches for 1.39 km. It is also known as the
China-Maldives Friendship Bridge as the mentioned country was actively
involved in financing the construction.

Malé Atoll comprises North Malé Atoll and South Malé Atoll. Together
with the small islands scattered around it forms part of the larger
Kaafu atoll. Just 400 meters away from the capital, there is the tiny
island of Funado. Bird's eye view of this land is not only picturesque
but also very unusual. Indeed, the island is owned by a government
trading company, and they use the island to store their fuel supplies.
The tanks contain 70% of the total fuel volume in the country, so the
island is strategically important.

[{Image src='07_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='630'}]

The interesting fact is that there are as many as three land areas under
the name of Funado. The name reminds of the natural heritage of this
part of the planet: "dhoo" means an island, while the word "Funa" is
Divehi for Calophyllum inophyllum (also known as Alexandrian laurel): a
beautiful tropical tree with white flowers.

And this is what the capital of the Maldives looked like seven years
ago:

[{Image src='08_Male.jpg' caption='Malé, Maldives\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='652'}]

Each of the many Maldives islands is unique and has its own history. We
hope you enjoyed your journey with AirPano!

\\ \\
[15 panoramas of Malè|Geography/Asia/Maldives/Pictures/Male]

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