On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from male valentines day gifts article title. This article is about the capital of the Maldives.

For the Italian municipality, see Malé, Italy. For the gender or sex, see Male. Metro area also includes Hulhulé and Hulhumalé. With a population of 252,768 and an area of 8. Traditionally it was the King’s Island, from where the ancient royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located.

The city was then called Mahal. Although Malé is geographically located in Kaafu Atoll, administratively it is not considered part of it. The central part of the city is formed by the island of Malé. Five more islands form part of the city which includes Hulhulé, Hulhumalé, Vilimalé, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi. A commercial harbour is located on the central island and serves as the heart of all commercial activities in the country. The central island is heavily urbanised, with the built-up area taking up essentially its entire landmass. Slightly less than one third of the nation’s population lives in the capital city, and the population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to 100,000 people in 2006.

The whole island group, the Maldives, is named after its capital. The first settlers in the Maldivian islands were Dravidian people who arrived from the neighboring shores of the modern Indian subcontinent and coastal Ceylon. It is said that early Tamil settlers called the islands Maalaitivu, which means Garland Islands or Chain Islands. Early records also indicate that the island was called “Athamana Huraa” prior to being named Malé. However, one day, a prince from the subcontinent called Koimala arrived in the Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship.

The people of Giraavaru spotted his vessel from afar and welcomed him. They allowed Prince Koimala to settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the waters tainted with fish blood. Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is said that the first tree that grew on it was the papaya tree. In early foreign sources, Malé was called Ambria or Mahl. For the Maldivians, it was Fura Malé, i. When Ibn Battuta traveled to Malé in 1343, he provided a rather extensive description of the city as well as the Islands of the Maldives overall. He mentioned that the Queen, Rehendhi Khadeeja, had a residence in Malé, which from its description may be assimilated to the same palace of the later sultan rulers, in the centre of the island.