Addu Atoll in the context of "Maldive Islands"

Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia, located in the eastern Arabian Sea, within the northern Indian Ocean. Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland. Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.

Maldives is the smallest country in Asia. Its land area is only 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi), but this is spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi) of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states. With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the second least populous country in Asia and the ninth-smallest country by area, but also one of the most densely populated countries. Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of around 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, and a highest natural point of only 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in), making it the world's lowest-lying country. Some sources state the highest point, Mount Villingili, as 5.1 metres or 17 feet.

The Maldives consists of 20 natural atolls, along with a few islands and isolated reefs stretching from 7 degrees 10 minutes north to 0 degrees 45 minutes south. The largest of these atolls is Boduthiladhunmathi, while the atoll containing the most islands is Huvadhu.

Some atolls are in the form of a number of islands by time and in the form of isolated reefs, which could be classified as smaller atoll formations. All land above the surface in the Maldives is of coralline origin. The atolls of the Maldives form a quite regular chain and, especially in the northern and central atolls, an arrayed structure is apparent. There are broad and deep channels between some atolls. The origin of the word "atoll" itself is in the language of the Maldives. "Atoll" (from Dhivehi: atholhu) is now used in many languages worldwide.

Villingili is a resort island in Addu Atoll, Maldives.

In 1997, the government of the Maldives contracted the American firm Abonmarche to build a large resort and marina on the island to attract tourism. In 2000 the government withdrew this contract, and finding no other bidders, awarded it to another firm called "Energy Tours" to build a smaller resort. Energy Tours defaulted on this contract.

Dhivehi (ދިވެހި, Dhivehi, [d̪iʋehi]), also known by its exonym Maldivian, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, primarily spoken by the Maldivian people native to the South Asian archipelagic state of the Maldives; as well as the neighbouring Minicoy Island within Lakshadweep, a union territory of India.

The Dhivehi language has four notable dialects. The standard dialect is that of the capital city of Malé. The greatest dialectal variation exists in the southern atolls of Huvadhu, Addu and Fuvahmulah. Each of these atolls has its own distinct dialect often thought to be interconnected with each other while being widely different from the dialect spoken in the northern atolls. The southern dialects are so distinct that those only speaking northern dialects cannot understand them.

Addu City is a city in Maldives that consists of the inhabited islands of Addu Atoll, the southernmost atoll of the archipelago. Addu City is the second-largest urban area in Maldives, in terms of population, and is one of the two urban areas to get the status of "city" other than the capital city, Malé, and Fuvahmulah. Addu City has 6 districts. They are Hithadhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo, Maradhoo, Feydhoo, Meedhoo and Hulhudhoo. These divisions are naturally islands, but are well connected. In addition, Addu Atoll has other uninhabited islands.

Hulhudhoo (Dhivehi:ހުޅުދޫ) is the third most populous island in Addu Atoll. It is located on the north-east side of the atoll adjoining the island of Meedhoo to the north. The island is approximately 530 km south of Male' City, the capital of Maldives. Hulhudhoo has a population of 3,687 people (2017). In the vaguely defined border dividing the island into two constituencies, Hulhudhoo is the southern half of Hulhumeedhoo. Hulhudhoo means "small island" with hulhu being the modern form of old dhivehi word "sulhu" meaning small.

Hulhudhoo spreads to an area of around 1.05 km. Hulhudhoo's landscape is mainly of palms trees and thick tropical vegetation as in other islands of the atoll. The island consists of small roads, close lanes, large number of closely built houses, only a few have a second floor, green vegetation surrounds most of the housing compounds, specially banana trees and in some households there are even taro (އަލަ) fields within the housing compound. This vegetation is regarded as part domestic agriculture and is often sent to Male' to local market.

Meedhoo (Dhivehi: މީދޫ) is the oldest populated island in Addu Atoll, having been settled between 1000 and 500 BCE. Its name comes from the original Indo-Aryan settlers, the "dhoo" comes from sanskrit "dwīpa" meaning island but the meaning of "mee" is obscure.

Meedhoo is generally considered to be the northern half of Hulhumeedhoo, and has an area of 1.827 km and a population of 2,953 (2017).