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VELIGANDU
Veligandu Island
Resort, surrounded by a beautiful lagoon and long stretches of white,
sandy beach, is the only resort on the island of Veligandu, in North Ari
Atoll. Transfers are by seaplane, a scenic 15 minute ride from/to the
Hulhule International Airport. 74 Rooms, including 54 Jacuzzi Water Villas,
10 Water Villas and 10 Jacuzzi Beach Villas.
MALDIVES
The Maldives or Maldive Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an
island nation consisting of a group of atolls belonging to the Maldive and
Suvadive archiplagoes in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is located south of
India's Lakshadweep islands, and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi)
south-west of Sri Lanka. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives' encompass a
territory featuring 1,192 islets, two hundred and fifty islands of which are
inhabited.
The name "Maldives" may derive from Maale Dhivehi Raajje ("The Island
Kingdom [under the authority of] Malé")." Some scholars believe that the
name "Maldives" derives from the Sanskrit maladvipa, meaning "garland of
islands", or from mahila dvipa, meaning "island of women",[citation needed]
but these names are not found in ancient Sanskrit literature. Instead,
classical Sanskrit texts mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands" (Lakshadweepa);
a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the
Laccadives and the Chagos island groups. Another theory suggests that the
name "Maldives" derives from the Tamil "mala tivu" meaning "a garland of
islands." Some medieval Arab travellers such as Ibn Batuta called the
islands "Mahal Dibiyat" from the Arabic word Mahal ("palace")." This is the
name currently inscribed in the scroll of the Maldive state emblem.
The inhabitants were Buddhist, probably since Ashoka's period, in the 3rd
century BC. Islam was introduced in 1153. The Maldives came then under the
influence of the Portuguese (1558) and the Dutch (1654) seaborne empires. In
1887 it became a British protectorate. In 1965, the Maldives obtained
independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands"), and
in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic.
The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of population. It is
also the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. |
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