The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean, near the southeastern boundary of the Arabian Sea. The Maldives is located southwest of India and Sri Lanka, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.
Malé is the capital and the most populated city, traditionally called the "King's Island", where the ancient royal dynasties ruled from its central location. The Maldives has been inhabited for over 2,500 years. Documented contact with the outside world began around 947 AD when Arab travellers began visiting the islands. In the 12th century, partly due to the importance of the Arabs and Persians as traders in the Indian Ocean, Islam reached the Maldivian Archipelago. The Maldives was soon consolidated as a sultanate, developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa. From the mid-16th century, the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers, with the Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887. Independence from the United Kingdom came in 1965, and a presidential republic was established in 1968 with an elected People's Majlis. The ensuing decades have seen political instability, efforts at democratic reform, and environmental challenges posed by climate change and rising sea levels. The Maldives became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Fishing has historically been the dominant economic activity, and remains the second largest sector, behind the rapidly growing tourism industry. The Maldives rates "high" on the Human Development Index, with a per capita income significantly higher than other SAARC nations. The World Bank classifies the Maldives as having an upper-middle income economy. (Full article...)
The Maldives historically has held strategic importance due to its location on the major marine routes of the Indian Ocean. Its closest neighbours are the British Indian Ocean Territory, Sri Lanka, and India. The United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and some Indian kingdoms in the past have had deep cultural and economic ties with the Maldives for centuries. Maldivians also traded with Aceh and many other kingdoms in what is now Indonesia and Malaysia. The Maldives were a primary source of cowrie shells, which were then used as currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast. (Full article...)
Image 2916th-century Portuguese illustration from the Códice Casanatense, depicting workers (from Maldives)
Image 30The tsunami that struck Malé on 26 December 2004; photo taken by Sofwathulla Mohamed while standing on his doorstep; his apartment was entirely washed out, damaging all his belongings (from History of the Maldives)
Image 44Dark clouds bringing heavy rain, common in the rainy season (from Maldives)
Image 45Each administrative atoll is marked, along with the thaana letter used to identify the atoll. Natural atolls are labelled in light blue. (from Maldives)
Image 53A plaque in Hukuru Mosque, Malé, Maldives, placed by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar on which Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari's name is written; his last name can also be read as "at-Tabrizi" instead of "al-Barbari" (from History of the Maldives)
Aishath Lahfa (born 21 November 1997) is a Maldivian film actress. Before pursuing a career in acting, Lahfa was an active TikTok user, which won her recognition as a performer. She made her acting debut in the web series Girlfriends (2021) and continued playing main roles in several other web series including four-part anthology crime web series Mazloom (2021–2022), family romantic dramas Rimsha (2022) and Yasna (2022). In 2023, she made her first appearance in a feature film with the horror film Kalhaki. (Full article...)
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The Asianisland nation of the Maldives competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympics, the delegation consisted of two athletes each in track and field (Azneem Ahmed and Afa Ismail) and swimming (Ahmed Husam and Aminath Shajan). For the first time since their debut at the Summer Olympics, the Maldives entered one badminton player into the Olympics. Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed, the inaugural Maldivian badminton player to compete at the Olympics, was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony with Azneem Ahmed carrying the Maldivian flag in the closing ceremony. All the athletes qualified for the games through wild cards from International Association of Athletic FederationsFINA and Badminton World Federation. The Maldives however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal. (Full article...)
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