Gaddhoo

Gaddhoo is the second most populated island in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, with a resident population of 1,409 recorded in the 2022 census. It lies some 470 km south of Malé, deep in the southern atolls, and has developed its own dialect of Dhivehi, distinct enough from northern and mid-Maldivian speech to carry what is often described as a southern accent.

The island has a notable place in modern Maldivian political history: during the secession of the southern atolls that formed the short-lived United Suvadive Republic in the early 1960s, Gaddhoo was a centre of opposition to the breakaway state, and reportedly some residents were pressured into supporting it. When the Suvadive capital of Havaru Thinadhoo was destroyed and left empty for four years, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll's affairs were run from Gaddhoo for over a decade.

Gaddhoo is best known for its traditional mat-weaving, known as Gadhdhoo Kunaa. Local women weave mats in off-white, yellow and black using strips from the bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus and a native grass called 'hau', producing both simple-knot and finer, more complex designs. These mats were historically prized enough to form part of the tribute sent from the Huvadhu Atoll chief to the royal court in Malé, and the island's weaving traditions were studied in detail by Danish anthropologists in the 1970s. The craft has struggled commercially since the 1980s, as middlemen took most of the profit from tourist sales while the weavers themselves earned little, discouraging younger generations from taking up the long apprenticeship required.

Today Gaddhoo functions primarily as a local community island, reachable by domestic flight or speedboat rather than as a tourism hub, and it stands apart from many of its Gaafu Dhaalu neighbours through its distinctive dialect and its enduring, if fragile, handicraft tradition.