 Geographically, the Maldives are formed by a number of natural atolls plus a few islands and isolated reefs which form a pattern from North to South.Administratively, there are currently 189 islands, 17 atolls and 4 cities in the Maldives.During the regime of Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, the administrative divisions consisted of 20 administrative atolls, all controlled by the central government in Male'.