Milandhoo (

Dhivehi Dhivehi, also spelled Divehi, may refer to: *Dhivehi people, an ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands. *Dhivehi language, an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Republic of Maldives ...

: މިލަންދޫ) is an island in the

Shaviyani Atoll Shaviyani Atoll, which is known by its abbreviated name (also known as Northern Miladhunmadulu Atoll or Miladhunmadulu Uthuruburi), is an Administrative division of the Maldives. It corresponds to the northern section of the natural Miladhunmadul ...

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

and geographically part of the Miladhummadulhu group in Thiladhunmati

Atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gro ...

History

Milandhoo was uninhabited in 1997, when the Maldive's Minister of Atolls Abdulla Hameed launched a project to construct houses there and relocate residents from the neighboring island Maakandoodhoo, where the water had become contaminated.
The resettlement was hastened in 2004, when the

Boxing Day tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

severely damaged Maakandoodhoo. The government officially recognized Milandhoo as an inhabited island on 20 March 2005. With more than 2140 residents, it is now the most populous island in Shaviyani Atoll.

Geography

The island is north of the country's capital, Malé. Milandhoo is at 06°17′05″N 73°14′36″E in the southeast of Shaviyani atoll between Maakandoodhoo and Nalandhoo. Covering 126 hectares, Milandhoo is the largest island in the atoll. In northwestern Milandhoo is a lake, Sikundi Kulhi ("Prawn Lake"), so named because of its abundant

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

s and

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

, which are transparent and up to long.

Barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which ...

s and a few other fish species also inhabit the lake, while

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...

s and

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an as ...

s live around its shore. Sikundi Kulhi is about long, wide, and up to deep.

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

deposited at its center is used for traditional medicine. Bottle gourd plants,

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in ...

sea hibiscus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Ze ...

and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s are common nearby, while

great morinda ''Morinda citrifolia'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. Its native range extends across Southeast Asia and Australasia, and was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout ...

and

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or t ...

are rare. In southwestern Milandhoo is a pond, Rayy Kulhi ("Red Pond"), so named because debris from bottle gourd plants and mangroves in the surrounding swamp redden its water. It is smaller and shallower than Sikundi Kulhi, but a popular picnic destination.

Demography

Economy

Agriculture

Plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

is Milandhoo's main agricultural product and has been grown commercially there since 2006, on farms from to in size. Farmers sell the plantains throughout Shaviyani Atoll and in Malé. Clearing for agriculture has been causing

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20101226010630/http://milandhoolive.net/ *http://milandhoozuvaanun.wordpress.com/
Milandhoo
{{Islands of the Maldives Islands of the Maldives