Thiladhunmathee-Miladhunmadulu
- Landsat 7
- Path 145, Row 058
- 07 March 2000
Situated in the northern reaches of the Maldivian archipelago this large atoll comprises the four administrative units of North Thiladhunmathee Atoll (Haa Alifu), South Thiladhunmathee Atoll (Haa Dhaalu), North Miladhunmadulu Atoll (Shaviyani) and South Miladhunmadulu Atoll (Noonu).
It represents the largest single atoll structure to be found anywhere on Earth, covering an area of 3,680 km² (see large size image). For various obscure reasons the atoll is often not recognised as being the largest of the Maldivian atolls; instead, Huvadhoo (at 3,200 km²) is normally mistakenly quoted as being the largest. Confusingly, the atoll appears to have no commonplace name in the west and is usually referred to, piecemeal fashion, by its individual administrative units.
The atoll has a highly elongate from, measuring 150 km in length, with average east to west widths of between 20 and 35 km. The smaller satellite atolls of Ihavandhippolhu (administratively part of North Thiladhunmathee Atoll) and Maamakunudhoo (part of South Thiladhunmathee Atoll) are located 9 km and 17 km off its northwestern and western sides, respectively; off the southwestern and southern rims are the atolls of North Maalhosmadulu and Faadhippolhu, both situated 15 km distant.
image: millenium coral reefs landsat archive/usf millenium global coral reef mapping project/nasa seawifs/nasa jsc
