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
Shaviyani Atoll Shaviyani Atoll Shaviyani Atoll, which is known by its abbreviated name, (also known as Northern Miladhunmadulu Atoll or Miladhunmadulu Uthuruburi), is an Administrative division of the Maldives. It corresponds to the northern section of the natural Miladhunmadulu Atoll, located in the north of the Maldives. On 26 October 2009, the government decided to move the capital of Shaviyani Atoll from Funadhoo to Milandhoo, citing more ease for the people. However, this decision was overruled by parliament in June 2010, and Funadhoo was reinstated as the capital of the atoll, much to the dismay of both the government and the people