Male is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll). Administratively, it is a city-class constituency and is governed by the Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was then called “Mahal”. Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates (doroshi).

A police officer holds a pistol during clashes with protesters near a burning tyre barricade in the Kariobangi slum of Nairobi, Kenya Friday, May 8, 2020. Hundreds of protesters blocked one of the capital's major highways with burning tires to protest government demolitions of the homes of more than 7,000 people and the closure of a major food market, causing many to sleep out in the rain and cold because of restrictions on movement due to the coronavirus. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

A demonstrator sits on the coffin containing the body of a protester who was killed during previous protests in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2019. Protesters are angry about skyrocketing inflation and the government's failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

A masked Kashmiri protester shouts freedom slogan near burning tires set up as road blockade by protesters in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The largest street protests in recent years in the disputed region, that left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured erupted more than a week ago after Indian troops killed a popular young rebel leader. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

A woman walks past the barbed wire separating Belarusian servicemen and Belarusian opposition supporters during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, August 30, 2020. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the capital of Belarus, beginning the fourth week of daily protests demanding that the country's authoritarian president resign. The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged and officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. (Photo by Tut.By via AP Photo)

Women perform the Chilean protest song about rape culture, “A rapist in your path”, during a protest march marking International Women's Day, in Lima, Peru. Saturday, March 7, 2020. March 8th has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975 as International Women's Day, celebrating women's achievements and aiming to further their rights. Marches and protests are held across the globe with calls for a more gender-balanced world to mark the day. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Protesters wearing masks perform during anti-austerity and anti-graft protests in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on January 11, 2013. More than 5,000 Slovenians gathered in the center of Ljubljana on Friday to protest against a corruption scandal that threatens to bring down the government. Slovenia's anti-corruption commission said earlier this week that Prime Minister Janez Jansa had been unable to explain the source of some of his income in recent years. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters via The Atlantic)

An injured protestor grieves in pain as police fire tear gas to disperse protesting members of the Inter University Students Federation during an anti government protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, May 19, 2022. Sri Lankans have been protesting for more than a month demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, holding him responsible for the country's worst economic crisis in recent memory. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)