Where we are in the world
The Maldives are an island nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 450 miles from mainland Asia (specifically India). The capital city, called Male, houses about ⅓ of the entire country’s population. Hulhumale is a partially-completed man-made island which, along with the Male airport, will be one of the largest land reclamation projects in the country.
For more maps about islands, see posts on the Toronto Islands and St Pierre and Miquelon!
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
Hulhumale was made to alleviate overcrowding in Male
The city of Male is only 2 square kilometers large but has a population of almost 200,000 people. Facing not only overcrowding but also a constraint on resources (such as water treatment facilities), the government turned to create additional islands closeby to the capital city that could alleviate some of the pressure from the highly-dense living situation in Male, which is currently in the top 25 most dense cities in the world. Hulhumale will be 4-5 square kilometers in area when completed which could help with the population density issue.
Hulhumale will be an average elevation of 2 meters above sea level
Most of the Maldives naturally has an elevation of about 1 meter above sea level, which puts the country at risk of sea levels rising as a result of global warming. Unlike the rest of the country, the new island of Hulhumale will have an elevation of about 2 meters above sea level in an attempt to help to curb or delay impacts of global warming.
Hulhumale’s construction subsumed another island entirely
Before the construction of Hulhumale, Farukolhufushi was a small island just north of the capital city of Male and its airport – the island was home to a Club Med resort. However, the island was located in the way of construction plans for the expansion of Male (or rather, the island provided an opportunity to build around), and was surrounded by Hulhumale land reclamation construction.
Additional links and sources
- Article about overcrowding in Male (link, published in 2014)
- Information about Hulhumale construction (link, published in 2022)
- News article about Hulhumale rising from the depths (link, published in 2004)
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