Addu

Addu City is the southernmost urban area of the Maldives and its second-largest population centre, spread across the connected islands of Addu Atoll, also known as Seenu Atoll. Six main inhabited islands — Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Feydhoo, Gan, Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo — ring a deep natural lagoon and are joined by the long paved Addu Link Road, which makes exploring the atoll easier than in most parts of the country.

The city's modern identity was shaped by its 20th-century history. During the Second World War the British built RAF Gan on Gan island as a strategic Indian Ocean base, and in the late 1950s the southern atolls briefly formed the secessionist United Suvadive Republic. Wartime memorials, former military buildings and the airfield that later became Gan International Airport remain visible across Gan.

Gan, Hithadhoo and Meedhoo hold the area's most distinctive sights. Hithadhoo, the administrative centre, is home to the Equatorial Convention Centre built for the 2011 SAARC summit and the Eedhigali Kilhi and Koattey protected wetlands with ancient archaeological remains. On Gan, the Sunset Bridge causeway, British war graves and old RAF structures recall the island's wartime past, while Meedhoo contains Koagannu, among the oldest cemeteries in the Maldives.

The atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and one of the country's strongest diving destinations, with healthy reefs, manta rays, reef sharks and the British Loyalty shipwreck. Its lagoon setting and southern position give Addu City a greener, more spacious and slower-paced character than the crowded capital, Malé, while still providing guesthouses, small hotels and local cafés.

For travellers, Addu City offers a calmer and more local alternative to the resort atolls, with domestic flights into Gan and a few resort options nearby. Business visitors attend regional events and government meetings at the Equatorial Convention Centre, while leisure travellers use the city as a base for diving, cycling and relaxed island-hopping in the far south of the Maldives.