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Geography
Republic of Maldives is nation of small islands spread out in the
Indian Ocean with India and Srilanka as her closest neighbours.
There are 1190 islands in the chain of islands that lies across the
equator. The islands are naturally divided into 19 atolls and
politically grouped into 26 administrative atolls. Out of the total
1190 islands, just over 200 islands are inhabited by Maldivians and
79 islands are developed as tourist resorts. The rest of the islands
are still in its virgin state with a very few exceptions where the
islands are leased for agriculture and other economic activities.
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Climate
Being right on the equator, the Maldives experiences a tropical
climate all year round. The temperature never drops below a
comfortable 25 degrees Celsius and even with the bounty of a hot
tropical sun the heat never creeps above the early thirties.
Changes in weather patterns experienced during the year are
categorized into two monsoons. |
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People
Aryans from India and Sri Lanka are believed to have settled in the
Maldives from 1500 BC onwards - according to latest archaeological
findings. “Elu”, an archaic form of Sinhala (spoken in Sri Lanka)
shows great similarities to Dhivehi.
As a favourite stop-over on the busy trade routes, the Maldives have
had many visitors and influences, trading with Arabia, China and
India with coconut, dried fish and above all the precious cowry
shell, a small white shell found on the beach, used as currency in
countries near the Indian Ocean. These shells were found as far away
as Norway or West Africa showing the extent of the trade relations
of the Maldives. |
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Language and Script
Despite the size of the islands and the population, Maldivians have
always enjoyed their own language and script. The language and the
script used in the Maldives are unique and even though some
similarities exist, are very different from the languages and
scripts of its closest neighbours.
The language spoken by Maldivians is “Dhivehi” and the script is
called “Thaana”. |
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see also... |
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resorts
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surfing |
snorkeling
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