Kinbidhoo

Kinbidhoo is an inhabited island in Thaa Atoll, home to 714 people according to the 2022 census. Lying some 185 km from Malé, it sits on a large coral reef shared with 14 other islands, close to Veymandoo, the atoll's capital, and near the uninhabited islet of Kudadhoo, which lies less than 200 metres away.

The island is known chiefly for its community life, with Eid celebrations and wedding customs said to have been handed down largely unchanged from earlier generations. Islanders continue traditional work such as thatch making and coir rope production, using coconut palm leaves and husks sourced locally or from nearby islands, while others collect sea cucumbers from the reef for processing and export via the capital.

Kinbidhoo has long served as an educational centre for Thaa Atoll, with Kinbidhoo School drawing students from surrounding islands and gaining a national reputation for strong exam results and its own teaching method, later used as a pilot for the current Maldivian school curriculum.

The island also has an archaeological history: Buddhist ruins known locally as Veyru, including the remains of a large stupa, were explored in the 1960s, though the site has since suffered vandalism and erosion. Kinbidhoo was struck by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which flooded the whole island and damaged houses and farmland, though no lives were lost.