Addu
- ISS011-E-8500
- 10 June 2005
- 09:34 UTC
Addu Atoll — the most southerly atoll formation of the Maldives — lies 83 km south across the Equatorial Channel from Huvadhoo and 36 km southwest from the solitary island of Fuvamulah; 450 km to the south lie the islands and reefs of the Chagos Archipelago. Addu and Fuvamulah are the only members of the Maldives to be located within the southern hemisphere.
Addu (which forms the Seenu Atoll administrative unit) is an approximately triangular-shaped atoll measuring 14 km east to west and 11 km north to south, with a total land area of 15.7 km². The atoll has seven main islands: Feydhoo (0.492 km²), Gan (2.649 km²), Hithadhoo (4.673 km²), Hulhudhoo, Maradhoo (0.749 km²), Meedhoo (2.145 km²) and Vilingili (0.526 km²), and 15 minor islets. The island of Hithadhoo (top-right in the above image) measures 8.5 km in length by 1.8 km in width and is the second largest island of the entire Maldives; Gan (at top-left) is the 6th largest.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
