Maldives Blog

Maldives Blog Maldives, in full Republic of Maldives, also called Maldive Islands, independent island country in the north-central Indian Ocean.

The Maldives may have been around for a few thousand years, but its popularity as a tourist destination is a relatively ...
01/08/2022

The Maldives may have been around for a few thousand years, but its popularity as a tourist destination is a relatively new thing. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the first resorts opened up. Before then, it was largely a destination that only adventurous divers and surfers knew about.

Besides the islands’ obvious natural charms, its rise from an obscure, “can-you-show-me-it-on-a-map?” destination to bucket-list paradise was aided by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who, during his first term in power, set about boosting tourism as a way to diversify the economy.

Once word got out about these idyllic Indian Ocean isles, it’s been one-way traffic – last year, a record 1.3 million people visited the Maldives. Some secrets are just too good to keep.

2. Less than a fifth of its 1,200 islands are inhabited

Around 400,000 people call the Maldives home – that’s a population roughly the same size as Cardiff. But while there are roughly 1,200 islands stretched out over the archipelago, only around 200 of them are inhabited.

Up until 2009, it was actually impossible to visit the inhabited islands due to a ban introduced in 1984. Since this was lifted, visitors can see the cultural side of the islands, beyond the resorts and stilted luxury cabins.

Lifting the ban has helped locals to capitalise on the Maldives’ growing tourism industry, and, now, there are plenty of guesthouses, restaurants and Maldivian-owned diving and excursion companies on the inhabited islands.

ServicesThe tourism industry, although nonexistent before 1972, underpins the services sector. Annually, more than 1.5 m...
30/07/2022

Services
The tourism industry, although nonexistent before 1972, underpins the services sector. Annually, more than 1.5 million tourists visit the Maldives. Its more than 130 resort islands include high-end hotel brands, and its marine geography offers unique diving and water sports opportunities as well as undersea accommodations, restaurants, and spas. By the mid-2010s the service sector accounted for four-fifths of the country’s GDP.

Labour and taxation
The rapid growth of the tourism industry left its mark on the labour market, which saw a dramatic shift away from agriculture and toward services. In part because of lack of training among the general population, a number of foreign workers from South Asia provide skills needed to help develop businesses. As businesses on resort islands away from the general populace demanded an increasing share of the total labour force, the participation rate of women, who are discouraged by the culture from living away from their families, fell substantially. About three-fifths of women participated in the labour force in the 1970s, but the rate dipped as low as one-fifth of women in the mid-1990s. By the 2010s, however, the participation rate had recovered to about half of women.

Beginning in 2011, the Maldives collected taxes primarily on the profits of businesses and financial institutions and on goods and services within the tourism sector. An income tax was implemented in 2020.

Transportation
Transportation between islands and atolls is vital for the country. China and India, competing for influence over the strategically located Maldive Islands, have provided significant foreign direct investment to develop infrastructure that would further connect the islands. Boats provide the principal means of transport between the atolls, and scheduled shipping services link the country with Sri Lanka, Singapore, and India. The national airline carries passengers between several airports in the country as well as internationally. The airport at Male handles most international traffic, although there are other airports that serve limited international travel.

Government and society
Constitutional framework
The constitution of the Maldives was adopted in 2008. The head of state and government is the president, assisted by a vice president and a cabinet. The president and vice president are directly elected by universal suffrage to a maximum of two five-year terms. The cabinet consists of the vice president, government ministers, and the attorney general. With the exception of the vice president, members of the cabinet are appointed by the president.

Since the 1970s the economy of the Maldives has developed rapidly. Annual growth of gross domestic product (GDP) has bee...
30/07/2022

Since the 1970s the economy of the Maldives has developed rapidly. Annual growth of gross domestic product (GDP) has been high, averaging about 6 percent in the 2010s, and the gross national income (GNI) per capita—among the lowest in the world in the 1970s—reached the level of upper middle-income countries by the late 2010s. The economy is based on tourism, fishing, boatbuilding, and boat repairing, with the tourism sector driving the rapid growth.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Fishing, long the traditional base of the economy, has been far surpassed by tourism as the main source of gross domestic product (GDP). While the sector still produces the bulk of the country’s exports and continues to grow (albeit at a slower pace than the tourism industry), it employs less than one-fifth of the labour force and contributes less than one-tenth of the GDP. Tuna is the predominant fish caught, traditionally by the pole-and-line method, although a good deal of the fishing fleet has been mechanized. Most of the fish catch is sold to foreign companies for processing and export.

Although formal businesses have seen rapid growth in the country, especially on the main islands, much of the population subsists outside the money economy on fishing, coconut collecting, and the growing of vegetables and melons, roots and tubers (cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams), and tropical fruits. Cropland, scattered over many small islands, is minimal, and nearly all the staple foods must be imported.

PeopleThe population of Maldives belongs almost entirely to the Maldivian ethnic group, which is the result of various p...
29/07/2022

People
The population of Maldives belongs almost entirely to the Maldivian ethnic group, which is the result of various peoples settling in the islands successively through the country’s history. The first settlers, it is generally believed, were Tamil and Sinhalese peoples from southern India and Sri Lanka. Traders from Arab countries, Malaya, Madagascar, Indonesia, and China visited the islands through the centuries. The official language is an Indo-European language called Dhivehi (or Maldivian); Arabic, Hindi, and English are also spoken. Islam is the state religion.

The Maldive Islands are a series of coral atolls built up from the crowns of a submerged ancient volcanic mountain range...
29/07/2022

The Maldive Islands are a series of coral atolls built up from the crowns of a submerged ancient volcanic mountain range. All the islands are low-lying, none rising to more than 6 feet (1.8 metres) above sea level. Barrier reefs protect the islands from the destructive effects of monsoons. The rainy season, from May to August, is brought by the southwest monsoon; from December to March the northeast monsoon brings dry and mild winds. The average annual temperature varies from 76 to 86 °F (24 to 30 °C). Rainfall averages about 84 inches (2,130 mm) per year. The atolls have sandy beaches, lagoons, and a luxuriant growth of coconut palms, together with breadfruit trees and tropical bushes. Fish abound in the reefs, lagoons, and seas adjoining the islands; sea turtles are caught for food and for their oil, a traditional medicine.

he Maldives, a vast island nation in the Indian Ocean, was blessed by the scuba diving gods. The turquoise seas around t...
27/07/2022

he Maldives, a vast island nation in the Indian Ocean, was blessed by the scuba diving gods. The turquoise seas around the islands boast plenty of pelagic species including manta rays, whale sharks and hammerheads. Most dive sites take advantage of the country’s system of channels and pinnacles (kandus and thilas), but you’ll also find quite a few dramatic walls, soft coral reefs and shipwrecks to explore.

Of course, the Maldives is known for its luxurious, over-the-water bungalows. But, for scuba divers, there’s no better way to explore the Maldives than by liveaboard dive safari. The best dive sites in the country are spread out, miles apart in different atolls. If you’re based on one resort island, you may only see one or two of the best sites. On the other hand, a liveaboard provides a week’s worth of epic dives through multiple atolls.

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