Fuvahmulah () is an island (atoll) in the Maldives. It is under Maldives' administrative division of Gnaviyani (or Nyaviyani) Atoll. The island is the second southernmost administrative atoll, located to the south of Huvadhu Atoll and to the north of Seenu Atoll.
The inhabitants of the island speak a distinctive dialect of the Dhivehi language, locally known as "Fuvahmulaki baha". Etymology Fuvah refers to Areca nut in the local language, with Mulah likely being the island's original name. Oral history rumors that the island's name was changed to Fuvahmulah due to the abundance of areca nut on the island and to differentiate it from the island of Mulah (sometimes referred to as Boli Mulah).Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. G.Sōsanī.
The admiralty charts and some geographers named the island Fua Mulaku. In old French maps the island appeared under the name Poue Molluque.
History
The island's historical includes a ruins of a Buddhist stupa, which is known locally as Fua Mulaku Havitta. The original shape of the mound was lost as it was altered after its excavation. The ruin is about 40 feet in height and it looks like a small hill. A smaller mound, about 15 feet in height, is located near the Havitta.
An ancient local poem in the local dialect reads: "". (Thor Heyerdahl visited this island and wrote a book which is named 'Fua Mulaku' in its German edition.)
There is also the Vasho-Veyo, an ancient circular bath with stone steps. This stone pool reveals great craftsmanship in the cutting of Porites coral stone (hirigal) by the locals.
Among the monuments of the Islamic period, the most important is the Gen Miskit, a neat compound including a coral stone mosque, an ancient graveyard and a well. It is located in the northern end of the island. Gen Miskit is the oldest mosque in the Maldives built (~c. 1300). The structure is made of coral stone and was built straight after the conversion to Islam.Mauroof Jameel and Yahaya Ahmad (2016). Coral Stone Mosques of Maldives: The Vanishing Legacy of the Indian Ocean, ORO Editions. . The mosque still holds congregational prayer to this day.
It has been said that the island was depopulated and resettled thrice in the last thousand years owing to lethal epidemics. The last time the survivors of the epidemic vacated to neighbouring Addu, Huvadhu and Haddhunmathi Atolls and remained there for a few years.
In the post-war era, tensions rose significantly between the Southern Atolls and the Central Government in Malé. Fuvahmulah was part of the breakaway state of the United Suvadive Republic (1959–1963). However, nothing too eventful happened throughout those years on the island, except for an incident that occurred where a boat (named the Elizabeth Boyer) carrying soldiers from the Maldivian government in Malé tried to disembark at Rasgefanno, on the eastern shore of Fuvahmulah. Islanders gathered at the beach and threw stones at the soldiers in protest. The soldiers from Malé retaliated by opening fire on the unarmed islanders, resulting in the death of one islander and seriously injuring two other islanders who were subsequently ferried by dōni, to Gan, in Addu Atoll. The British who were stationed in Gan sent them by air to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for treatment.
Recent history On 4 February 2007 a fire burned down the Community Center building. The fire started around 3:00 am local time. The Regional Fire Services, police, and locals contained the fire, within 2 hours after the fire started. An investigation was carried out by the Police, but a report was not published. Police said the most likely cause of the fire was a short circuit.
On 23 February 2007, a fire started at the boat yard near the harbour. The fire completely burnt 6 fiberglass dhows. A forensics team of the Maldives Police Service did the investigation. All the dhows were insured. In an interview with media, the atoll chief said the loss is estimated to be around 20 million Rufiyaa, although insurance companies never publicly disclosed the figures. This fire is said to be the worst fire in the history of the island.
Geography
The island is south of the country's capital, Malé. The Fuvahmulah city is about with a submerged reef (Rashikedefaro) extending for about in a southeasterly direction. The island is the third largest in the Maldives. In the past, Fuvahmulah was a small coral atoll whose southern end was open at a spot called Diyarehifaando and the inside of the island was a saltwater lagoon forming a natural harbour. There is a spot on the southern end known as Kudhuheraival (forest of a small islet), which indicates there was a small separate islet over there in ancient times.
The channel connecting the lagoon with the ocean was closed by massive coral boulders in the past. Thus the inside of the island is lower than its edges. In time the inner lagoon lost its saltiness and all that remains today are two small lakes, wetlands and marshy taro fields. In this respect, Fuvahmulah is like the island of Nukutavake in the Central Pacific.
The northern lake of the island is known as "Dhadimagi Kilhi" (lit. "Lake of Dhadimagu" or "Dhadimagu Lake" since the lake is located in Dhadimagu ward of the island) and the southern is "Bandaara Kilhi" (lit. "State Lake" since the lake has been under state custody throughout history).
Lacking a lagoon and being subject to ocean swells, Fuvahmulah was often inaccessible to seafarers in the past. In the early 2000s a harbour was built at the southeast tip of the island, which minimised the problem to a certain extent. The construction of a domestic airport on the island in 2011 has gradually opened the island to the rest of the country.
Environment As H.C.P Bell says in his monograph, throughout history Maldivians themselves have fairly judged Fuvahmulah to be the most beautiful island in the Maldives.
Being a one-island atoll itself and the third largest island in the Maldives (if not for land reclamation), Fuvahmulah includes a diverse range of habitats ranging from tropical woodlands and wetlands to freshwater lakes, well-vegetated marshland areas, beaches of different variations and fertile lands of humus greater in area than any other island in the Maldives. The two freshwater lakes in the island and a number of swamps and marshland areas in the island give habitat to different plant and animal species not found anywhere else in the Maldives. Among such species, the common moorhen (locally known as ) is a bird natively confined to Fuvahmulah only in the Maldivian archipelago. Also, the dense forest of Syzygium cumini (Jambul), locally known as "Dhanvah Baal" (literally "Jambul grove") to the North of Dhadimagi Kilhi is the largest vegetation of Jambul to be found anywhere in the Maldives since this plant variety is nearly extinct elsewhere in the country. Fuvahmulah is also the largest producer of mangoes in the Maldives. Mango trees are found in abundance and every year hundreds of thousands of mangoes are produced from the island. Fuvahmulah also produces pineapples and oranges which cannot be found anywhere else in the country.
The wetland areas of Fuvahmulah are mostly made up of dense vegetation ranging from ferns to reeds to taro fields. There is an abundance of water spinach locally known as () and plant varieties such as Syzygium cumini (jambul), pond-apple, mango, pineapple, screwpine, tropical almond, cheese fruit, ambarella, banana and many more. Fuvahmulah also has farmland where locals grow crops such as cucumber, tomato, carrot, cabbage, pepper, capsicum, eggplant and ladies' fingers.
Natural phenomena There is a broad sandy beach at the northernmost point of Fuvahmulah in the district of Dhadimago. It is locally known as (In official Dhivehi ). Its sands are formed by white small round pebbles, which are unusually smooth and shiny. This kind of pebbles are found in Fuvahmulah only in the Maldives and visitors to the island usually collect them as a memory of the island.
It is common for an annual phenomenon called Bissaaveli to form at the Thūndu. The Bissaaveli forms when part of the sand of the beach moves away from the shore towards the edge of the reef, thus creating a lagoon, enclosed by sand and the shore of the island. This natural event attracts hundreds – possibly thousands – of locals who love to go to watch it. When it is well-formed, the Bissaaveli is enclosed from all sides, creating a natural shallow swimming pool where locals like to swim.
Another natural phenomenon called Kalho-Akiri (meaning "Black Pebbles") occurs on the south-east shore of the island. This area only has black pebbles, quite unusual to the normal white coral sand beaches of the Maldives.
Every year, towards the end of the southwest monsoon season, flying fish come to the northwestern shore of Fuvahmulah. Confused by the number of voracious tuna shoals in the water and by aggressive frigate birds hunting them from the air, the flying fish would end up flying close to the beach. They mostly end up in the area between Thoondu and Dhadimago fanno where this phenomenon is most common.. Large crowds will gather on the beaches for what the locals called "Hulhammaha Hifun".
Climate Fuvahmulah has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen: Af).
Local government The current Mayor is Ismail Rafeeq who was re-elected on 4 April 2026 and has been serving as mayor since 2020. The council has seven members, one representing each of the seven wards in Fuvahmulah. The mayor and the council are both elected by direct election and the council operates under a mayor-council form of government.The council majority is currently held by the Maldivian Democratic Party as of 15 August 2026. The Secretariat of the Fuvahmulah City Council is located in the Maadhadu ward on Narugis Magu.
Fuvahmulah City Council and its office was established following a presidential decree by Abdulla Yameen on 4 June 2017 which granted the island city status. During its initial formation the city council was composed of three constituency members. The mandate of city council was further revised with additional powers granted through an amendment to Decentralization Act during the presidency of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Demographics
As of the 2022 Maldivian Census, the resident population in Fuvahmulah was 9,166. The population of native Maldivians originating from Fuvahmulah, which includes both the resident and non-resident population, is estimated at around 13,849 as of April 2026. The median age of the native population in Fuvahmulah is 32.2 and the gender ratio is 1.03.
Like most other islands in the Maldives, Fuvahmulah has a sizable for expatriate worker population. The resident non-Maldivian population on the island grew from 526 in 2014 to 1,278 in 2022.
Services Communications Dhiraagu is the only landline telephone communication service provider on the island, as well as in the entire country. However, Ooredoo along with Dhiraagu provides mobile communication services on the island.
The Dhiraagu communications antenna, located in the premises of Dhiraagu Fuvahmulah Operations Center, stands tall. It connects Gaafu Alif Atoll, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and Fuvahmulah to the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, the ooredhoo communications antenna is at Fuvammulah Cricket stadium.
Apart from Dhiraagu, Focus Infocom Private Limited and Ooredhoo also provides internet services on the island.
Transport