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Travel to Maldives — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisorMaldives
| Republic of Maldives National
name: Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa President: Mohamed Nasheed (2008)
Current government officials
Total area: 116 sq mi (300 sq km) Population (2008 est.): 379,174 (growth
rate: 2.6%); birth rate: 33.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 51.6/1000;
life expectancy: 65.1; density per sq km: 1,263
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Malé, 81,600 Monetary unit: Rufiya
Languages:
Maldivian Dhivehi (official); English spoken by
most government officials
Ethnicity/race:
South Indians, Sinhalese, Arabs
Religion:
Islam (Sunni)
National Holiday:
Independence Day, July 26 Literacy rate: 97% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007est.):
$1.588 billion; per capita $4,600. Real growth rate: 6.6%.
Inflation: 5%. Unemployment: negl. (2003 est.).
Arable land: 13%. Agriculture: coconuts, corn, sweet
potatoes; fish. Labor force: 88,000 (2000); agriculture 22%,
industry 18%, services 60% (1995). Industries: fish processing,
tourism, shipping, boat building, coconut processing, garments, woven
mats, rope, handicrafts, coral and sand mining. Natural
resource: fish. Exports: $123 million f.o.b. (2004 est.);
fish, clothing. Imports: $567 million f.o.b. (2004 est.):
petroleum products, ships, foodstuffs, textiles, clothing,
intermediate and capital goods. Major trading partners: U.S.,
Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, UK, Germany, Singapore, UAE, India,
Malaysia, Bahrain (2004). Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 21,000 (1999); mobile cellular:
1,290 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1
(1998). Radios: 35,000 (1999). Television broadcast
stations: 1 (1997). Televisions: 10,000 (1999). Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000). Internet users: 6,000
(2001). Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: n.a.; paved: n.a.; unpaved: n.a. Ports and
harbors: Gan, Malé. Airports: 5 (2002). International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
The Republic of Maldives is a group of atolls in
the Indian Ocean about 417 mi (671 km) southwest of Sri Lanka. Its 1,190
coral islets stretch over an area of 35,200 sq mi (90,000 sq km). With
concerns over global warming and the shrinking of the polar ice caps, the
Maldives is directly threatened, as none of its islands rises more than
six feet above sea level.
Government
Republic.
History
The Maldives (formerly called the Maldive
Islands) were first settled in the 5th century B.C. by Buddhist seafarers from India and Sri Lanka.
According to tradition, Islam was adopted in A.D. 1153. Originally the islands were under the
suzerainty of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). They came under British protection
in 1887 and were a dependency of then-colony Ceylon until 1948. An
independence agreement with Britain was signed July 26, 1965. For
centuries a sultanate, the islands adopted a republican form of government
in 1952, but the sultanate was restored in 1954. In 1968, however, as the
result of a referendum, a republic was again established in the recently
independent country. Ibrahim Nasir, the authoritarian president since
1968, was removed from office and replaced by the more progressive Maumoon
Abdul Gayoom in 1978. Gayoom was elected to a sixth five-year term in
2003.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a tremendously powerful
tsunami in the Indian Ocean devastated 12 Asian countries. The Maldives
reported 82 deaths and suffered enormous damage: 14 of the archipelago's
islands became uninhabitable, requiring its inhabitants to be permanently
evacuated, and another 79 islands were left without safe drinking
water.
Parliament voted in June 2005 to shift to a
multiparty democracy. In an August 2007 referendum, voters supported
President Gayoom's plan for a presidential system of government, similar
to that of the United States. The opposition, which supports a
parliamentary system, claimed the vote was rigged, and three members of
Gayoom's cabinet resigned.
In the country's first multiparty elections, held in October 2008,
Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner, defeated President Gayoom in
the second round of voting, 54% to 46%. Gayoom had been in office for 30
years, ruling as an autocrat. Nasheed, an opposition leader who returned
to the Maldives in 2005 from exile in England, had been a leader in the
democratization movement. He vowed to crack down on corruption.
See also Encyclopedia: Maldives
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Maldives
Ministry of Planning and National Development http://www.planning.gov.mv/index2.htm .
Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Maldives from Infoplease:
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