Fuvahmulah

Fuvahmulah (Dhivehi: ފުވައްމުލައް) is an island (atoll) in the Maldives. It is under Maldive administrative divisions of Gnaviyani Atoll or Nyaviyani Atoll. The inhabitants speak a distinctive form of the Dhivehi language, known as Mulaku bas.

Fuvahmulah means "Island of the Areca nut palms", Fuvah (or "Fua") in the local language. Other places in the world like Penang in Malaysia and Guwahati in Assam, India, are also named after this nut. The original name of the island could have been Mulah, but was called Fuvahmulah (the Mulah with the areca nut palms) to distinguish it from Boli Mulah – another island in ancient Maldives.

The admiralty charts and some geographers named the island Fua Mulaku. In old French maps the island appeared under the name Poue Molluque.

Geography

The island is about 4.5 km by 1.2 km with a submerged reef (Rashikedefaro) extending for about three km in a SE direction. In the past Fuvahmulah was a small coral atoll whose southern end was open at a spot called Diyarehifaando and the inside of the island was a saltwater lagoon forming a natural harbor. There is a spot on the southern end known as Kudhuheraival (forest of a small islet), which indicates there was a small separate islet over there in ancient times.