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The MaldivesGeneral Information
The Maldives is a very small country in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It consists of about 1.190 tiny islands grouped in 26 natural atolls. Only 200 of the islands are inhabited and about 75 more are made into resort islands for tourists. The climate is dominated by two monsoons. Best weather is to be found during the period January - March even if it's quite good the year around. The temperature is always around 30°C. When you first come to the Maldives you think you are in paradise. The islands are usually so small it does not take more than 10 to 20 minutes to walk around them - if you walk slowly. The sand is white, the sea is blue and the coconut palms green... For scuba-divers the Maldives is an ideal place to spend hours and
hours under water. The corals are astonishing, the fish life so rich it
is impossible to count all the species. FACTS ABOUT THE MALDIVESHISTORYIt is most likely that the Maldivian islands were inhabited as early
as 2000 BC but almost no remains are left to prove it. In fact, we know
roughly nothing about the time before the conversion to Islam which
occurred in 1153 AD. Very few international archaeologists have visited the Maldives but the first one, who actually was an amateur, came as early as 1879. His name was HCP Bell. Bell came from a British family who had spent
generations in the colonies. He was born in India in 1851. Bell was a devoted amateur archaeologist. After retirement he spent quite a long time on the Maldivian islands and excavated what he called hawittas - Buddhist remains on the islands. Bell also carefully studied the Tarikh, or chronicle on the Maldives since the Muslim conversion. Bell’s discoveries and theories are compiled in the book THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. MONOGRAPH ON THE HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY. A long time after Bell's visit, an other amateur archaeologist came to the Maldives. It was the well known Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl who also wrote a book about the country’s early history: THE MALDIVE MYSTERY. Putting both archaeologists’ theories together, one will find that the Maldives have been inhabited for a very long time. The first people on the islands probably worshiped the sun and were soon accompanied by invaders from Ceylon. Hinduism became the new religion but after a while, Buddhism took its' place. In 1153 the Moroccan traveler al Berberi arrived to the islands. He persuaded the Maldivians to convert to Islam. Despite the islands location the country has not often been pray for colonialism. An exception from that rule are the several Portuguese attempts to conquer the Maldives during the XVI and XVII centuries. In 1887 the Sultan signed an agreement with the British Governor of Ceylon. The Maldives became a protectorate under the Crown. The British’ did not show big interest on the islands, and mostly left them by themselves. However, in 1957, the RAF established a base on Gan, the southernmost island. The base and the airport were kept by the British until 1976. In 1965, the Maldives achieved total independence, but are still member of British Commonwealth. In 1966, the country was declared a republic after a referendum. Today’s president is Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. He still governs the
country together with the Parliament, but several attempts of coupe d’ètat
have been made. The Parliament (Majlis or Citizen’s Council) has 48 members, two from each of the 19 administrative atolls, two from Male (the capital) and eight chosen by the president. The president is nominated by the Parliament and appointed by a national referendum, in which only one candidate is eligible. Elections takes place every five years. The local government is in the hands of the atoll-chief, atolhu
veri and religious matters as well as juridical are taken care of by
the gazi. Every island has its own khateeb, island-chief. The weather is tropical and dominated by two monsoons. The North-east monsoon (November-April) is dominated by fair weather and mild winds. The South-west monsoon (May-October) brings in clouds, rain an stronger winds. The best weather is to be found in January to March. Even during the rain-season, sunshine is usually what you will see. Normally the rain falls during a couple of hours in the afternoon. The temperature the year around is about 30°. The water temperature is about 28-29°. The only allowed religion on the Maldives is Islam. All Maldivians are of the Sunni sect, which is more moderate than the Shi’iti sect. If a foreigner wants to move to the Maldives he must first convert to Islam. Tourists do not see much of the religious practice if they do not pay
a visit to the capital. Remember, though, that it is prohibited to bring
any kind of alcohol into the country. The resort islands are excluded
from this rule which means that you will be able to buy a beer or a
drink. The Maldives is a developing country and it is considered by the UN to be among the poorest countries in the world. Despite that, no Maldivians are forced to starve. The abundance of the sea, together with the rich products from the everywhere growing coconut palm, makes sure everybody has enough to eat. Most people survive outside the money-based economy and I have actually never met a beggar on the Maldives. The country’s income is mainly based on fishing and tourism. Fishing employs almost 40% of the labour force. The principal catch is tuna and bonito, both species are canned or frozen in a big factory in the Lhaviyani-atoll. Tourism accounts for more than 40% of the GDP. 74 uninhabited islands have been converted to resort islands, and one
can find hotels ranging from top-class to moderate. The Maldivian language is called divehi and it is derived from Singahelse, Urdu, Sanskrit and Arabic. The written language is based on the Arabic system, you write from
right to left and the vowels are usually small orthographic signs over
and under the consonants. The fauna on the islands is quite poor and you can be sure not to find any dangerous animals.
If you look up in the sky during sunset you will probably see the unmistakable silhouette of the fruit-eating flying fox. The biggest bat on earth. The all over dominating plant is of course the coconut-palm. Other
vegetation to be found is: bread-fruit trees, bamboo, banyans, pandanus
and - on the southernmost atolls - citrus-trees. Male is one of the world’s smallest capitals, with an area of about 1 km². The population today is about 70.000 inhabitants. I wonder what the British archaeologist Bell would say if he was able to visit Male today - he thought 5.200 inhabitants where to many! Even if you easily walk from one end of the island to the other in less than 20 minutes, Male is crowded with traffic. People drive as they like and I am surprised no more accidents occur. If you are lazy and do not want to walk it is very easy to find a taxi, there are about 1.000 cabs on the island! Not so many tourists come to Male. The city has actually not so much
to offer and you will easily see all the sights and do a bit of shopping
during a half-day stay. There are about 74 different resort islands in varied categories. Most of them are found near the airport island, Hulule next to Male, in the North- and South-Male-atolls and in Ari-atoll. You will also find a few islands in the Vaavou-, Baa-, and Lhaviyani-atolls. The life on a resort island is easy and comfortable. The beaches are wonderful, the sea as blue as in a dream and you will always find refreshing shadow under the innumerable coconut-palms. If you do not only wish to stay in the sun and swim, there are a lot of different sea-sports to practice: canoes, water-skiing, sailing, parachuting and of course skin-diving and scuba-diving. Every single resort island has it's own diving school where you could learn to dive, attend at diving excursions and rent equipment. If you never tried diving, do it. Snorkelling is very easy and everybody can do it. Once under the surface, you will discover a world so wonderful you will never want to leave it. click on the thumbnail to get a look
Who am I? The Maldives Diving The life on the coral-reef Picture Galleries ©Thomas von Seth / All rights reserved |
You will for sure meet geckos, small insect-eating lizards, everywhere.
They are totally harmless and should be respected because they will have
mosquitoes for dinner - instead of the mosquitoes having your blood for
dinner.
