Atoll expedition in 1897. The third expedition in 1898 was led by Alfred Edmund Finckh. On January 6, 2009, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the creation of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, covering several islands and atolls under U.S. jurisdiction. Atoll An atoll (, , , , or ), sometimes called a coral atoll, is a ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. The coral of the atoll often sits atop the rim of an extinct seamount or volcano which has
Gnaviyani Atoll natural atolls (In case of Raa, Baa, Kaafu, Alifu Alifu and Vaavu Atolls). Some administrative divisions correspond to the same natural atoll too (In case of Lhaviyani, Meemu, Faafu, Dhaalu, Thaa, Laamu, Gnaviyani and Seenu Atolls). The order followed by the code letters are from North to South, beginning with the first letters of the Thaana alphabet used in Dhivehi. These code letters may not be accurate from the geographical and cultural point of view. However, they have become popular among tourists and foreigners in the Maldives who find them easier to pronounce than the true atoll names in Dhivehi,