Aerial view of Malé

Malé (މާލެ), population 81,647 (2004), is the capital of the Republic of Maldives. The city is located on Malé Island in the Malé Atoll. A seaplane base and a ship anchorage are located on the island. Malé is the center of trade in coconuts, coir, palm mats, copra, and cowry shells. Malé International Airport is on adjacent Hulhule Island. Several land reclamation projects have expanded the harbor. The Republic of Maldives is a country consisting territorially of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India. ... Binomial name Cocos nucifera L. The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera), is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family). ... Coir (from Malayalam kayaru - cord) is a coarse fibre extracted from the fibrous outer shell of a coconut. ... Genera Many; see list of Arecaceae genera Arecaceae (also known as Palmae or Palmaceae), the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order Arecales. ... Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. ... Cowry shells (also spelled cowrie), are marine snails of the genus Cypraea (family Cypraeidae), found chiefly in tropical regions, especially around the Maldives or the East Indies. ...

The island is heavily urbanized, the city taking up essentially its entire landmass. Urban is in or having to do with cities, as distinct from rural areas. ...

On December 26, 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the Indian Ocean earthquake, struck off the western coast of Sumatra. The earthquake and subsequent tsunamis reportedly killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. Malé was affected by the resulting tsunami, which flooded two-thirds of the city. December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) on December 26, 2004. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest part of Indonesia. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... The Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earths water surface. ...