There’s a splash of late colonial flavour on Gan Island, where there was a British military base until the 1970s, and an independent streak flows through the locals, who even speak a different dialect of Dhivehi to that spoken in Male. Addu Atoll (often called Addu City these days) is the main economic and administrative centre in the south of the country, and the only place to rival Male in size and importance. Its 18,000 people are spread out over seven islands that are connected to each other by causeways and land reclamation.