Out of 1,192 islands of the Maldives, 187 are inhabited. They are listed by administrative division/atoll. The islands are divided into:Inhabited islands - those officially recognized as towns, villages, fishing, and farming communities with permanent human habitation. They all have an island office and island chiefs. Uninhabited islands - islands with no permanent human habitations. They are sometimes used for agricultural and industrial purposes, and more recently as tourist resorts and picnic islands. Some of these islands are valuable breeding grounds for various species of seabirds and sea turtles. Disappeared islands - islands which during recorded history, have been completely eroded away, claimed by the sea due to the sea level rise or assimilated by other islands. Some of these islands were previously inhabited and have been important in the history of the country. Some natural atolls are named after them while others are thought to have been the sites of the first settlements in the Maldives.