Goidhoo (Baa Atoll)

{{About|island in the Baa Atoll|other islands with this name|Goidhoo (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Goidhoo

| native_name_lang = dv

| settlement_type = Inhabited island

| image_skyline = Baa Goidhoo.jpg

| image_caption = Goidhoo Harbor, when entering Goidhoo

| pushpin_map = Maldives

| pushpin_relief = y

| pushpin_mapsize = 250

| pushpin_label_position = left

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Maldives

| coordinates = {{coord|04|52|25|N|72|59|59|E|region:MV|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Maldives

| subdivision_type1 = Geographic atoll

| subdivision_type2 = Administrative atoll

| subdivision_name2 = Baa Atoll

| subdivision_type3 = Distance to Malé

| subdivision_name3 = {{convert|95.69|km|mi|abbr=on}}

| seat_type = Capital

| parts_type = Geographic atolls

| parts_style = list

| leader_title = Council

| leader_title3 = Mayor

| leader_title4 = Island Chief

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_total_km2 = 1.1354

| length_km = 2.130

| width_km = 1.580

| population_footnotes = {{cite web|url=http://statisticsmaldives.gov.mv/nbs/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Census-Summary-Tables1.pdf|title=Table PP5: Resident Population by sex, nationality and locality (administrative islands), 2014|page=34|work=Population and Households Census 2014|publisher=National Bureau of Statistics|access-date=12 August 2018}}

| population_total = 543 (including foreigners)

| population_as_of = 2014

| population_density_km2 = auto

| timezone = {{abbr|MST|Maldives Standard Time}}

| utc_offset = +05:00

| postal_code_type = Assigned Letter

| postal2_code_type = Assigned Letter {{small|(Dhivehi)}}

| area_code_type = Area code(s)

| blank_name_sec2 = Number of Islands

| blank1_name_sec2 = Inhabited

| blank2_name_sec2 = Uninhabited

| blank3_name_sec2 = Total

}}

Goidhoo (Dhivehi: ގޮއިދޫ) is one of the inhabited islands of Southern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll, code letter "Baa".

History

In the 19th century, a female African slave who had been bought by the king on his Hajj trip to Mecca was formally released from slavery and was settled in Goidhoo island. A house and a well were built for her. This African woman was called Salaamaa. She had been working for years at the palace in Malé before the ailing king released her in order to gain merit in the afterlife.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

The freeing of slaves before the death of the owner was traditionally a common practice among the very high nobility in the Maldives.

Now there are some families from Goidhoo that can trace their descendency to this African ancestor.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

Geography

The island is {{convert|95.69|km|mi nmi|0|abbr=on}} northwest of the country's capital, Malé.{{cite web|url=http://boulter.com/gps/distance/?from=4.175278+73.508889&to=4.873611+72.999722&units=k|title=Coordinate Distance Calculator|work=Boulter.com|access-date=12 August 2018}}

=Horsburgh Atoll=

Goidhu Island lies in a small separate atoll along with Fulhadu and Fehendhu. Goidhoo Atoll (also Goidu or Goifulhafehendhu), Horsburgh Atoll in the Admiralty Chart, is separated from South Maalhosmadulhu by a {{convert|6|mi|km|adj=mid|spell=in|-broad}} channel. This atoll is oval in shape and small, its greatest length being {{convert|10|mi|km|0|abbr=out}}. The inner lagoon has a depth of 17 to 20 fathoms; it has a sandy bottom mixed with mud and clay. Unlike the lagoons of most small atolls of the Maldives, this lagoon is free from coral heads in its centre.

In the Admiralty charts, this atoll is named after James Horsburgh, hydrographer to the East India Company and author of the long-titled Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, and the interjacent Ports, compiled chiefly from original Journals and Observations made during 21 years' experience in navigating those Seas. Horsburgh's Directory was the standard work for oriental navigation in the first half of the 19th century, until Robert Moresby's survey of the Maldives when for the first time in history accurate maps of the atolls were published.

Demography

{{Historical populations

|align = center

|2006 |503

|2014 |507

|footnote = 2006-2014: Census populations

|source = {{cite web|url=http://statisticsmaldives.gov.mv/yearbook/2017/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/08/3.3.pdf|title=Table 3.3: Total Maldivian Population by Islands|work=National Bureau of Statistics|access-date=12 August 2018}}

}}

References

Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. G.Sōsanī.
Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999.

Category:Islands of the Maldives