History(British Era)

There are no exact records of when the first settlers arrived in Addu Atoll. But Archaeological finds

reveal that the islands were inhabited as early as 1500 BCE. Maldives was previously a Buddhist nation, but frequent contact with Arab travellers paved the way for the Maldives to embrace Islam. The people of Meedhoo Island in Addu were amongst the first to convert to Islam in the Maldives.

The biggest influence on Addu’s modern history has been the British bases, first established on Gan
during WWII as part of the Indian Ocean defenses. In 1956, when the British could no longer use Sri
Lanka, they developed a Royal Air Force base on Addu as a strategic Cold War outpost. The base had
around 600 personnel permanently stationed here, with up to 3000 during periods of peak activity. The British built a series of causeways connecting Feydhoo, Maradhoo and Hithadhoo islands and employed most of the population on or around the base.

However, Tensions between the southern atolls and the central government in Male’ peaked in the
1960s  when  the inhabitants of the southern atolls of Addu and Huvadhoo, objected to then prime
minister, Ibrahim Nasir’s demand that the British cease employing local labour.  This lead the
southerners to severe ties from the central government and to form their own independent state, which was short lived as it was squashed by an armed fleet sent by the Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir.

In 1976 the British pulled out, leaving an airport, some large industrial buildings, barracks and a lot of unemployed people, trained and skilled, who spoke good English and had experience working for
Westerners. When the tourism industry took off in the late 1970s, many of the men of Addu went to Male’ seeking work in resorts and tourist shops. They have never lost their head start in the tourism business to this date. Even today in any resort, visitors find a large number of key staff hailed from Addu. Gan is now a commercial island with Equator Village tourist resort, business offices, shops and the airstrip now being used as Gan International Airport.