Maamigili | |
---|---|
Inhabited island | |
Location in Maldives | |
Coordinates: 03°28′30″N 72°50′15″E / 3.47500°N 72.83750°ECoordinates: 03°28′30″N 72°50′15″E / 3.47500°N 72.83750°E | |
Country | Maldives |
Administrative atoll | Alif Dhaal Atoll |
Distance to Malé | 106.28 km (66.04 mi) |
Dimensions | |
• Length | 1.350 km (0.839 mi) |
• Width | 0.775 km (0.482 mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 2,211 |
Time zone | MST (UTC+05:00) |
Maamingili (Dhivehi: މާމިގިލި) Maamigili is the largest and most populous of the islands of Alif Dhaal Atoll which border the South Ari Marine Protected Area (MPA). Unlike all the other islands in this chain, it is naturally round in shape, owing to its position on one of the edge of one of the widest channels in the MPA.
The main area of habitation is toward the eastern half of the island. A deep water access harbour leads toward the enormous main street, which runs east to west straight through the heart of the island. This busy street is full of different kinds of shops at first, with the tourist souvenir shops dominating the eastern end. Toward the western end of the street is a small mosque, the medical centre, the huge and very impressive school and the island council offices. There is a real feel of growth and development on this island, and in many ways it feels more like Male or an atoll capital island than the traditional quiet village that is seen nearby.
Adding to this sense of progress is the impossible to miss development of a huge new deep water harbour and airport complex. The traditional harbour has been expanded by several times its original size, and is now capable of accommodating 20 metre plus liveaboard vessels.
MTCC Public Ferry connect Malé with Maamigili and as of September 2016 every couple days there is a private operated nightly ferry to Malé. From the ferries the most popular ferry is Sun Ferry which ship's between Sunday to Thursday 3 times.After sailing on Thursday ship will dock at Maamigili on Friday.
Villa International Airport has been built on the southern edge of the island, the huge lagoon has been reclaimed, adding an area of over 73 hectares to the original island. This was done to construct the first airport in Ari atoll, with a plan to link into the network of larger capacity terrestrial landing planes, which are capable of reaching all parts of the country. The airport will also have a pilot training school. Progress on the construction of the airport is gathering pace, with regular flights being scheduled to begin by 2013. This development is being funded by Mr. Qasim, the founder and chairman of Villa Group.
Island have about 5 taxi cars and around 3 pickups as Taxi for various purposes.