Maldives is world renowned for its tourism industry and the pantheon of rich tourist properties – from the conventional and near five-decade long enclave resort tourism to the budding and booming local tourism that has resulted in a multitude of colorful guesthouses popping across various residential islands and even the safaris and liveaboards – the country has something to offer for every wanderlust traveler.
The resorts and the guesthouse islands are often advertised, marketed and talked about across various travel and trade fairs, online booking platforms and even on several travel and tourism related conferences.
However, the island nation's capital, Male' City is less comparatively talked about.
Yes! Male' City is the most populous city in the Republic of Maldives and the island reportedly has a population of over 250,000 while it is also regarded as one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
The idyllic and peaceful lifestyle found across residential islands in the Maldives is non-existent in this busy "metropolis" of a city. Loud vehicles traversing across the city, busy people going to places for their important tasks and an overall loud environment makes this island a far-cry from every other island.
However, Male' City is also one of the most historically profound and economically significant islands in the country.
The urban area is approximately 1.95 square kilometers while the metro area (which encompasses both the airport island Hulhule' and the satellite town of Hulhumale') covers 9.27 square kilometers. Male' City is also the most urbanized island in the entire Maldives with brick and asphalt-laden roads running across the island's length while the residential zone is mostly filled with tall buildings stacked close to one another – again a sight comparatively unseen in other islands in the country.
Historically, it is noted that Male' was initially a large sandbank where fishermen from the neighboring island of Giraavaru went to cut their fish and release the offal from their fresh catches. As such, owing to the large amount of tuna fish offal and blood, the waters around the sandbank looked like a large pool of blood – which is translated to "maa ley gandeh" – while "maa" derived from the Sanskrit word "maha" meaning big and "ley" meaning blood.
The capital city of the Maldives has several tourist attractions which are often the most visited sites by island hopping tourists. Some of these iconic locations include the Islamic Center; which both holds cultural, religious and historic values, the Sultan Park; which is one of the longest standing public parks although it had gone through a vigorous makeover over the years, the Friday Mosque; regarded as one of the oldest mosques which still carries the traditional limestone carvings across its walls, the National Museum; the portal into Maldivian history, Bandaara Koshi; the military accommodation and bunker site which has etched into the pages of Maldivian history owing to the 3rd November 1988 insurgency attack lead by Tamil Tigers that resulted in several casualties from the Maldivian army.
Apart from these historic landmarks the capital city is also home to the largest and most active commercial harbor in the country while the island neighbors the country's most significant airport.
The island nation marked one of its most significant feats back in 2018 when the country's first over-water bridged connecting Male' City with both Hulhule' and Hulhumale' opened officially for public transportation.
Prior to the opening of the large bridge structure, the roads linking the structure were given an upgrade by removing the aging brick blocks and being replaced by asphalt. The asphalt-laden areas of the Male' City have since been labeled the "Male' City Ring Road".
Meanwhile, over the past years the island nation's capital has observed several public parks opening up across various and significant locations – such as the most recent addition across the Sinamale' Bridge access point in Male' – where previously a helipad ran at full length.
Male' City is home to several high-end hotels catering towards the needs of travelers and tourists – frugal or luxury.
The island nation's capital is home to some prominent hotels which includes Samann Grand, The Somerset Hotel, The Beehive, Mookai Hotel, Unima Grand and the coveted Jen Maldives Male' by Shangri-La among others.
Guests looking for top-tier lodging experiences with inclusive meal options as well as recreational facilities will have the options to pick from these city hotels during their stay in Male' City.
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