Maldives
| ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމުހޫރިއްޔާ Republic of Maldives | |||||
| |||||
| Anthem: Gavmii mi ekuverikan matii tibegen kuriime salaam "In National Unity Do We Salute Our Nation" | |||||
 | |||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Malé 4°10′N 73°30′E | ||||
| Official languages | Dhivehi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government | Republic | ||||
| - President | Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom | ||||
| Independence | |||||
| - from UK | 26 July 1965 | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total | 298 km² (204th) 115 sq mi | ||||
| - Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - July 2005 estimate | 329,000 | ||||
| - 2006 census | 298,842 [1] | ||||
| - Density | 1,105/km² 2,862/sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate | ||||
| - Total | $2.569 billion | ||||
| - Per capita | $7,675 | ||||
| HDI (2004) | 
| ||||
| Currency | Rufiyaa (MVR)
| ||||
| Internet TLD | .mv | ||||
| Calling code | +960 | ||||
| 1 Rank based on UN estimate for 2005. | |||||
Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean.
Maldives holds the record for being the flattest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 7.5 feet, (2.3 meters).
Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of population. It is also the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world.
Over the last century, sea levels have risen about eight inches (20cm). Concerns over global warming and a possible long-term rise in sea level as a result of the melting of polar ice are important issues to the fragile balance between the people and the environment of Maldives in the early 2000s.
Geography
The country's name may stand for "Mountain Islands" (malai in Tamil, meaning "mountain" and teevu in Tamil meaning "island") or it may mean "a thousand islands". Some scholars believe that the name "Maldives" derives from the Sanskrit maladvipa, meaning "garland of islands", or from "mahila dvipa", meaning "island of women". Others believe the name means "palace" (from Mahal in Arabic).
The Maldives are located south of India's Lakshadweep islands, and about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south-west of Sri Lanka. The 26 atolls encompass a territory featuring 1192 islets, roughly 200 of which are inhabited. The land area is 116 square miles (300 square kilometres) or about 1.7 times the size of Washington DC in the United States.
Composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, the atolls are situated atop a submarine ridge 596 miles (960km) long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south. Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of Maldives.
Most atolls consist of a large, ring-shaped coral reef supporting numerous small islands. Islands average only one to two square kilometers in area, and lie between one and 1.5 meters above mean sea level. Maldives has no hills or rivers. Although some larger atolls are approximately 30 miles (50km) long from north to south, and 19 miles (30km) wide from east to west, no individual island is longer than five miles (eight kilometres).
Each atoll has approximately five to 10 inhabited islands, and 20 to 60 uninhabited islands. Several atolls, however, consist of one large, isolated island surrounded by a steep coral beach, such as the large island of Fuvammulah in the middle of the Equatorial Channel.
The temperature of Maldives ranges between 75°F and 91°F (24°C and 33°C) throughout the year. Although the humidity is relatively high, the constant sea breezes help to keep the air moving. There is a dry season associated with the winter northeast monsoon and the rainy season brought by the summer southwest monsoon. The annual rainfall averages 100 inches (2540mm) in the north and 150 inches (3810mm) in the south.
Vegetation comprises groves of breadfruit trees and coconut palms towering above dense scrub, shrubs, and flowers. The soil is sandy and highly alkaline, and a deficiency in nitrogen, potash, and iron severely limits agriculture.. Ten percent of the land, or about 26 km², is cultivated with taro, bananas, coconuts, and other fruit. Only the lush island of Fuvammulah produces oranges and pineapples, partly because the terrain of is higher, leaving the groundwater less subject to seawater penetration.
Fresh water floats in a layer, or "lens," above the seawater that permeates the limestone and coral sands of the islands. These lenses are shrinking rapidly on Male and on islands where there are resorts. Mango trees on Male are dying because of salt penetration.
A tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused parts of Maldives to be covered by sea water and left many people homeless. After the disaster, cartographers are planning to redraw the maps of the islands due to alterations by the tsunami. The people and government are worried that Maldives could be wiped from the map eventually.
The capital is Male.
History
Western interest in the archaeological remains of early cultures on Maldives began with the work of H.C.P. Bell, a British commissioner of the Ceylon Civil Service. Bell was shipwrecked on the islands in 1879, and he returned several times to investigate ancient Buddhist ruins. Historians have established that by the fourth century C.E. Theravada Buddhism originating from Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) became the dominant religion of the people of Maldives.
In the mid-1980s, Thor Heyerdahl, studied the ancient mounds, called hawitta by the Maldivians, found on many of the atolls. Some of his archaeological discoveries of stone figures and carvings from pre-Islamic civilizations are exhibited in a side room of the small National Museum in Male'.
Heyerdahl's research indicates that in 2000 B.C.E., Maldives lay on the trading routes of early Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Indus Valley civilizations. Heyerdahl believes that early sun-worshipping seafarers, called the Redin, first settled on the islands. Even today, many mosques there face the sun and not Mecca, lending credence to this theory. Because building space and materials were scarce, successive cultures constructed their places of worship on the foundations of previous buildings. Heyerdahl thus surmises that these sun-facing mosques were built on the ancient foundations of the Redin culture temples.
Maldives had an abundant supply of cowrie shells, a form of currency that was widely used throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast since ancient times. Middle Eastern seafarers ventured out on the Indian Ocean trade routes in the tenth century C.E.
The last Buddhist king of Maldives converted to Islam in the year 1153. The king thereupon adopted the Muslim title and name (in Arabic) of Sultan (besides the old Divehi title of Maha radun or Ras Kilege), Muhammad al Adil, initiating a series of six islamic dynasties consisting of 84 sultans and sultanas that lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective.
The person responsible for this conversion was a Sunni Muslim visitor named Abu al Barakat. His tomb stands on the grounds of Hukuru Mosque, or miski, in the capital of Malé. Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in Maldives.
In 1558 the Portuguese established themselves on Maldives, which they administered from Goa on India's west coast. Fifteen years later, a local guerrilla leader named Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al-Azam organized a popular revolt and drove the Portuguese out of Maldives. This event is commemorated as National Day.
In the mid-seventeenth century, the Dutch, who had replaced the Portuguese as the dominant power in Ceylon, established hegemony over Maldivian affairs without involving themselves directly.
However, the British expelled the Dutch from Ceylon. The status of Maldives as a British protectorate was officially recorded in an 1887 agreement in which the sultan accepted British influence over Maldivian external relations and defense. The British had no presence, however, on the leading island community of Malé.
During the British era, which lasted until 1965, Maldives continued to be ruled under a succession of sultans. It was a period during which the sultan's authority and powers were increasingly and decisively taken over by the chief minister, much to the chagrin of the British Governor-General who continued to deal with the ineffectual sultan. Consequently, Britain encouraged the development of a constitutional monarchy, and the first constitution was proclaimed in 1932.
However, the new arrangements favoured neither the ageing sultan nor the wily chief minister, but rather a young crop of British-educated reformists. As a result, angry mobs were instigated against the constitution that was publicly torn up. Maldives remained a British crown protectorate until 1953 when the sultanate was suspended and the First Republic was declared under the short-lived presidency of Muhammad Amin Didi.
This first elected president of the country introduced several reforms. While serving as prime minister during the 1940s, Didi nationalized the fish export industry. As president he is remembered as a reformer of the education system and a promoter of women's rights. Muslim conservatives in Malé eventually ousted his government, and during a riot over food shortages, Didi was beaten by a mob and died on a nearby island.
In 1954 the restoration of the sultanate perpetuated the rule of the past. Two years later, the United Kingdom obtained permission to re-establish its wartime airfield on Gan in the southernmost Addu Atoll. Maldives granted the British a 100 year lease on Gan that required them to pay £2000 a year, as well as some 440,000 square metres on Hitaddu for radio installations.
In 1957, the new prime minister, Ibrahim Nasir, called for a review of the agreement in the interest of shortening the lease and increasing the annual payment. But Nasir, who was theoretically responsible to then sultan Muhammad Farid Didi, was challenged in 1959 by a local secessionist movement in the southern atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan. This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state with Abdulla Afif Didi as president.
The short-lived state (1959-62), called the United Suvadive Republic, had a combined population of 20,000 inhabitants scattered in the atolls then named Suvadiva—since renamed North Huvadu and South Huvadu—and Addu and Fua Mulaku. In 1962 Nasir sent gunboats from Malé with government police on board to eliminate elements opposed to his rule. Abdulla Afif Didi fled to the then British colony of Seychelles, where he was granted political asylum.
Meanwhile, in 1960 Maldives allowed the United Kingdom to continue to use both the Gan and the Hitaddu facilities for a 30-year period, with the payment of £750,000 over the period of 1960 to 1965 for the purpose of Maldives' economic development.
On July 26, 1965, Maldives gained independence under an agreement signed with United Kingdom. The British government retained the use of the Gan and Hitaddu facilities. In a national referendum in March, 1968, Maldivians abolished the sultanate and established a republic.
After independence from Britain in 1965, the sultanate continued to operate for another three years.
The Second Republic was proclaimed in November 1968 under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir, who had increasingly dominated the political scene. Under the new constitution, Nasir was elected indirectly to a four-year presidential term by the Majlis (legislature). He appointed Ahmed Zaki as the new prime minister.
In 1973 Nasir was elected to a second term under the constitution as amended in 1972, which extended the presidential term to five years and which also provided for the election of the prime minister by the Majlis. In March 1975, newly elected prime minister Zaki was arrested in a bloodless coup and was banished to a remote atoll. Observers suggested that Zaki was becoming too popular and hence posed a threat to the Nasir faction.
During the 1970s, the economic situation in Maldives suffered a setback when the Sri Lankan market for Maldives' main export of dried fish collapsed. The the British decided in 1975 to close its airfield on Gan in line with its new policy of abandoning defense commitments east of the Suez Canal. A steep commercial decline followed the evacuation of Gan in March 1976. As a result, the popularity of Nasir's government suffered. Maldives's 20-year period of authoritarian rule under Nasir abruptly ended in 1978 when he fled to Singapore. A subsequent investigation revealed that he had absconded with millions of dollars from the state treasury.
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former university lecturer and Maldivian ambassador to the United Nations was elected to replace Nasir for a five-year presidential term in 1978.
Despite the popularity of Gayoom, those connected to the former President hired ex-SAS mercenaries in 1980 to carry out a coup to oust him. The attempt was sponsored by Ahmed Naseem, brother-in-law of Nasir and former junior Minister and was supported by a handful of Nasir loyalists. A further coup was attempted in 1983.
In November 1988, Tamil mercenaries from Sri Lanka invaded , and were evicted with from India.
On 26 December 2004 the Maldives were devastated by a tsunami following an Indian Ocean earthquake. Only nine islands were reported to have escaped any flooding, while 57 islands faced serious damage to infrastructure, 14 islands had to be evacuated, and six islands were decimated. A further 21 resort islands closed because of damage. The total damage was estimated at over $400-million dollars or some 62 percent of the GDP. A 108 people, including six foreigners died.. The destructive impact of the waves on the low-lying islands was reduced by the fact there was no continental shelf or land-mass upon which the waves could gain height. The tallest waves were reported 14 feet high.
Economy
Current GDP per capita of Maldives registered a peak growth of 26.5% in the 1980s and stabilised around 11.5% in the 1990s.
Tourism and Fisheries form the two key components of Maldivian economy. The country's shipping, banking and manufacturing sectors are also growing at a considerable pace. Among the South Asian nations, Maldives has the second highest per-capita GDP at 3,900 USD (2002 figure). Major trading partners include India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia[1].
Fisheries
The Maldivian economy was entirely dependent on fishing and other marine products for many centuries. Fishing remains the main occupation of the people and the government gives special priority to the development of the fisheries sector.
The mechanization of the traditional fishing boat called "Dhoni" in 1974 was a major milestone in the development of the fisheries industry and the country's economy in general. A fish canning plant was installed in the island of Felivaru in 1977, as a joint venture with a Japanese firm. In 1979, a Fisheries Advisory Board was set up with the mandate of advising the government on policy guidelines for the overall development of the fisheries sector. Manpower development programs were begun in the early 1980s, and fisheries education was incorporated into the school curriculum. Fish aggregating devices and navigational aids were located at various strategic points. Moreover, the opening up of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Maldives for fisheries has further enhanced the growth of the fisheries sector. Today, fisheries contribute over fifteen percent of the GDP and engage about thirty percent of the country's work force. It is also the second-largest foreign exchange earner after tourism.
Cottage industries
The development of the tourism sector gave a major boost to the country's fledging traditional cottage industries such as mat weaving, lacquer work, handicraft, and coir rope making. New industries that have since emerged include printing, production of PVC pipes, brick making, marine engine repairs, bottling of aerated water, and garment production.
Politics
Politics in the Maldives takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the cabinet. The President is nominated to a five-year term by a secret ballot of the Majlis (parliament), a nomination which must be confirmed by national referendum.
The unicameral Majlis of the Maldives is composed of fifty members serving five-year terms. Two male members from each atoll are elected directly by [[universal suffrage]. Eight are appointed by the president, which is the main route through which women enter parliament. The counry introduced political parties for the first time in its history in July 2005, six months after the last elections for the parliament. Nearly 36 members of the existing parliament joined the Dhivehi Raiyyathunge Party (which translates to Maldivian People's Party) and elected President Gayoom as its leader. Twelve members of parliament became the Opposition and joined the Maldivian Democratic Party. Two members remained independent. In March 2006, President Gayoom published a detailed Roadmap for the Reform Agenda, providing time-bound measures to write a new Constitution, and modernise the legal framework. Under the Roadmap, the government has submitted to the Parliament a raft of reform measures. The most significant piece of legislation passed so far is the Amendment to the Human Rights Commission Act, making the new body fully compliant with the Paris Principles.
The 50 members of parliament sit with an equal number of similarly constituted persons and the Cabinet to form the Constitutional Assembly, which has been convened at the initiative of the President to write a modern liberal democratic constitution for the Maldives. The Assembly has been sitting since July 2004, and has been widely criticised for making very slow progress. The Government and the Opposition have been blaming each other for the delays, but independent observers attribute the slow progress to weak parliamentary traditions, poor whipping (none of the MPs were elected on a party ticket) and endless points of order interventions. Progress has also been slow due to the commitment of the main opposition party, MDP to depose President Gayoom by direct action ahead of the implementation of the reform agenda, leading to civil unrest in July-August 2004, August 2005 and an abortive putsch in November 2006. Significantly, the leader of the MDP, Ibrahim Ismail, MP for the biggest constituency, Male', resigned from his party post in April 2005 and eventually left MDP in November 2006 citing the intransigence of his own National Executive Committee. The government had engaged the services of a Commonwealth Special Envoy Tun Musa Hitham to facilitate all party dialogue, and when the MDP boycotted him, enlisted the services of the British High Commissioner to facilitate a dialogue. The ensuing Westminster House process made some progress but was abandoned as MDP called for the November revolution.
The call for an Orange Revolution on 10 November by MDP is seen as a mistake by many observers and even supporters, leading to fragmentation of the party and alienation of the members of the public. According to the registrar of parties, the DRP is the largest party in the country with over 35,000 card carrying members while the MDP, the second largest party, has 14,000.
The Roadmap provides the deadline of 31 May 2007 for the Assembly to conclude its work and to pave the way for the first multiparty elections in the country by October 2008.
On 19 June 2006, the Assembly voted to hold a public referendum to decide the form of government under the new constitutional settlement.
bold "New Politics— the emergence of New Maldives" bold
New Maldives is both a vision and a group. As a vision, the term refers to the aspirations for a democratic Maldives based on new mindsets and new thinking that embrace liberal democratic values.
As a group, New Maldives refers to the young, reform-minded ministers, educated in the west, and who comprise the driving force behind President Gayyoom’s reform agenda, the architects of the Roadmap for the Reform Agenda announced in March 2006, the initiators of the Westminster House process, and the advocates of an open society in Maldives. New Maldives ministers are also the founding members of the Open Society Association of Maldives.
Who comprises New Maldives?
New Maldives comprises the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, the Minister of Justice Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, the Minister for Gender and Family Mrs Ayesha Mohamed Didi, the Minister for Construction and Infrastructure Mr Mohamed Mauroof Jameel, the Minister of Housing Mr Ibrahim Rafeeg, the Minister of Youth and Sport Mr Hussain Hilmy, the Minister for Atolls Development Mr Mohamed Waheed Deen, the Minister of Education Ms Zahiya Zareer and the Minister of Tourism Dr Mahmood Shougee.
When was the group formed?
New Maldives was publicly launched in December 2005, at a press conference at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was the first occasion that Government ministers had held an open forum for diplomats and key opposition figures to discuss domestic political developments.
Why was the group formed?
The first goal of New Maldives was to initiate all-party discussions on accelerating the implementation of democratic reforms and to develop and publish a time-bound Roadmap for the wide-ranging reforms promised by President Gayyoom.
The group was formed as an alliance of liberal ministers who were struggling against conservatism, corruption and plutocracy. The immediate reaction of the conservatives was to form a People’s Association, in opposition to the Open Society, and comprising several members of parliament with vested commercial interests and who offer at best lukewarm support for the implementation of the Roadmap for Reform. The group serves as an expression of solidarity and commitment to reform, and has a particular association with promoting human rights and combating corruption.
What is the significance of the group?
The launching of the group heralded the emergence of a new force in Maldivian politics, committed to a peaceful revolution in reshaping the political culture of the country, and offering a fresh and centre-ground political alternative amidst the polarization between the conservatives in the government and the militants in the opposition who were leading the democratic Reform Agenda announced by the government in June 2004 to a stalemate.
The group has given an ideological coherence to the Reform Agenda, transforming the efforts by dissidents to foment revolutionary change and the willingness of the government to reform into a full blown, time-bound, transparent and open exercise to usher in liberal democracy with human rights safeguards.
The significance of the group lies in breathing fire, energy and substance to President Gayyoom’s vision of a modern democracy and converting that vision into a peaceful revolution.
The group enjoys a solid reputation in both pro-government and opposition circles as champions of press freedom, better human rights protection, and accountable governance.
What are the achievements of the group?
The achievements of the group include:
1) strengthening fundamental rights, especially the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of assembly. 2) the launching of a criminal justice action plan that sees the overhauling and modernization of the entire criminal justice system 3) the formulation of a new penal code combining sharia law with civil law 4) strengthening human rights safeguards and subscription to international human rights standards 5) opening up the country to engagement with human rights stakeholders and promoters such Amnesty International 6) securing engagement of the international community on the reform agenda 7) fostering a cosmopolitan open society outlook 8) promoting all party dialogue 9) initiating the Westminster House process, which resulted in the release of several persons deemed prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, including the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Mohamed Nasheed.
Who are the Critics and Detractors?
New Maldives has faced strident criticism from both the militants in the Opposition and the conservatives in the government. The success of New Maldives in driving forward the Reform Agenda of President Gayyoom is seen to have undermined and reduced both internal and external support for the main opposition party, MDP and its single-point agenda of overthrowing the government. At the same time, the conservatives in the government feel that the new political order created by the successful implementation of the Reform Agenda will result in serious political losses to them.
New Maldives ministers openly clash with old-guard figures. In July 2005, hours before being sworn-in as Foreign Minister, Dr Shaheed openly clashed with the Chief Justice and Supreme Head of the Religious Council, publicly denouncing the “banning” of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Supreme Head. The Attorney General is known to be lobbying for the dismissal of the Police Chief and the Supreme Head of the Religious Council.
Who are the supporters?
President Gayyoom stands accused by both the Opposition and the conservatives in the government of being the prime supporter of New Maldives. The Opposition calls New Maldives the choir boys of President Gayyoom while the conservatives accuse the President of singing tunes scored by New Maldives.
The support base for New Maldives comprise all ages, but predominantly those who are young and professional, seeking to avoid the revolutionary disruption of the Opposition and the inertia and corruption of the conservatives.
New Maldives also enjoys considerable international recognition, the result of its international engagement and commitment to creating a liberal democratic Maldives.
The Human Rights Report issued by the Human Rights Commission of the UK Conservative Party for example refers to New Maldives as a faction promoted by President Gayyoom in the context of the reform agenda.
What is the relevance of New Maldives?
The relevance of New Maldives lies in their ability to navigate between the entrenched positions of the militants and the conservatives, and in finding space for the implementation of peaceful reforms. New Maldives also have a vital role to play in tempering the agenda of the militants and in moderating the pull of conservatives. Equally important is the role that New Maldives have to play in giving credence, substance and profile to President Gayyoom’s Reform Agenda. When New Maldives joined the fray in the first elections to the Council of the governing party, the DRP, the nation warmly embraced them as the third mainstream option between the rival factions comprising the President’s siblings and in-laws who had been jostling for power since 1978.
Not surprisingly, the conservative press routinely vilifies members of New Maldives while the opposition media outlets appear to have a love-hate relationship with New Maldives ministers, frequently lionizing them as advocates of freedom and democracy and attacking them for standing in the way of the opposition’s agenda for the immediate overthrow of the government.
But there is widespread belief, both in Maldives and overseas, that those who wish to promote democracy in Maldives would do well to support New Maldives.
Judiciary
Ustaz Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim from Fuvahmulah is the present chief justice of Maldives. All judges in the Maldives are appointed by the president. Islamic law is the basis of all judicial decisions.
The Maldives have, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), undertaken to write the first Muslim criminal code in the history of the world. This project would formalize the proceedings of criminal justice in this tiny nation to one of the most comprehensive modern criminal codes in the world. The code has been written and awaits action by the parliament.
Maldives and the Indian Ocean Commission
Since 1996, Maldives has been the official progress monitor of the Indian Ocean Commission. Since 2002, the Maldives has expressed interest in the work of the Indian Ocean Commission but has not applied for membership. The interest of the Maldives relates to its identity as a small island state, especially in relation to matters of economic development and environmental preservation, and its desire to forge close relations with France, a main actor in the IOC region. The Maldives is a founder member of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation, SAARC, and as former protectorate of Great Britain, joined the Commonwealth in 1982, some 17 years after gaining independence from Great Britain. The Maldives enjoys close ties with Seychelles and Mauritius, whom like the Maldives are members of the Commonwealth. The Maldives and Comoros are also both members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference. The Maldives has refused to enter into any negotiations with Mauritius over the demarcation of the maritime border between the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory, pointing out that under international law, the sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago rests with the UK, with whom negotiations were started in 1991.
Administrative divisions
Maldives has twenty-six natural atolls which have been divided into twenty administrative atolls and one city. [2] The northern most atoll is Haa Alif Atoll and the southern most is Seenu Atoll. The smallest atoll is Gnaviyani Atoll with only one island (the largest island in Maldives). The largest atoll in both Maldives and the whole world is Gaafu Alif Atoll which is just south of the One and a Half Degree Channel.
Each atoll is administered by an Atoll Chief (Atholhu Veriyaa) appointed by the President (Maumoon Abdul Gayoom). Atoll chiefs administer as directed by the president. The Ministry of Atoll Administration and its Northern and Southern Regional Offices, Atoll Offices and Island Offices are collectively responsible to the President for Atolls Administration. The administrative head of each island is the Island Chief (Katheeb), appointed by the President. The Island Chief's immediate superior is the Atoll Chief.
Demographics
The Maldivian ethnic identity is a blend of the cultures reflecting the peoples who settled on the islands, reinforced by religion and language. The earliest settlers were probably from Southern India. Indo-Aryan speakers followed them from Sri Lanka in the fourth and fifth centuries. In the 12th century, sailors from the Malayan Archipelago, East Africa and Arab countries inhabited the islands, creating the present heterogeneous blend of ethnicity amongst Maldivians.
Originally Buddhist[3], Maldivians were converted to Sunni Islam in the mid-twelfth century. Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship.
The official and common language is Dhivehi, an Indo-European language related to Sinhalese, the language of Sri Lanka. The written script is called Thaana and is written from right to left. English is used widely in commerce and increasingly as the medium of instruction in government schools.
Some social stratification along lines similar to the Indian caste system exists on the islands. It is not rigid, since rank is based on varied factors, including occupation, wealth, Islamic virtue, and family ties. Members of the social elite are concentrated in Malé. Outside of the service industry, this is the only location where the foreign and domestic populations are likely to interact. The tourist resorts are not on islands where the natives live, and casual contacts between the two groups are discouraged.
Census has been recorded since 1905, which shows that the population of the country remained around 100,000 for the first 7 decades of the last century. Following independence in 1965, the health status of the population improved so much that the population doubled by 1978, and the population growth rate peaked at 3.4% in 1985. By 2005, the population had reached 300,000, although the census in 2000 showed that the population growth rate had declined to 1.9%. Life expectancy at birth stood at 46 years in 1978, while it has now risen to 72 years. Infant mortality has declined from 127 per thousand in 1977 to 12 today, and adult literacy stands at 99%. Combined school enrolment stands in the high 90s.
In addition to the ethnic Maldivians, more than 50 000 (2006 july ) foreign employees live in the country. They comprise mainly of people from the neighbouring South Asian countries of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Culture
|
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.
|
Maldivian culture is derived from a number of sources and factors. These include its proximity to Sri Lanka and South India, East Africa, the Malayan Archipelago and the Middle East via its conversion to Islam in the 12th century, and its location as a crossroads in the central Indian Ocean. Maldivians are of Sri Lankan and Southern Indian origin. There are also elements of Arabian, African, and Indonesian origin as well. Maldivian culture shares many aspects with Sri Lanka and Kerala, namely a strong matriarchal tradition.
The music of the Maldives, such as Bodu-Beru (literally "Big Drum"), showcase their African roots, and other cultural activities resemble similarity to those of Arab and North Indian regions.
A unique feature of Maldivian society is a very high divorce rate by either South Asian or Islamic standards, which demonstrates the high degree of autonomy that Maldivian women have over their lives.
The Maldives is an almost exclusively Islamic society. It is common to hear Maldivians refer to their country as a "100 percent Muslim country." But the isolation of Maldives from the historical centers of Islam in the Middle East and Asia has allowed some pre-Islamic beliefs and attitudes to survive.
There is a widespread belief in jinns, or evil spirits. For protection against such evils, people often resort to various charms and spells. The extent of these beliefs has led some observers to identify a magico-religious system parallel to Islam known as fanditha, which provides a more personal way for the islanders to deal with either actual or perceived problems in their lives. However this is a dying tradition that can be seen in only rural areas.
Tourism
The development of tourism has fostered the overall growth of the country's economy. It has created direct and indirect employment and income generation opportunities in other related industries. Today, tourism is the country's biggest foreign exchange earner, contributing to twenty percent of the GDP. With eighty-six tourist resorts in operation, the year 2000 recorded 467,154 tourist arrivals.
See also
|
|
|
External links
- Template:Dv icon / (English) Information Ministry
- Google Maps satellite image of the Maldives
- WikiMapia.org annotated map of the Maldives
- Satellite images of all atolls from oceandots.com
- Pictures of the Maldives
Bangladesh · Bhutan · India · Maldives · Nepal · Pakistan · Sri Lanka
Sometimes included: Afghanistan • Iran • Myanmar
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
