Maldives- Quick Facts
Maldives is one of the exotic places of the world attracting many tourists to enjoy a leisurely holidays full of sun and sand.
Maldives is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean and is a part of South Asia. It is located to the south of Lakshadweep islands of India between Minicoy and Chargos archipelagoes, and about seven hundred kilometers south west of Sri Lanka.
The country consists of 1192 coral islands grouped in a chain of 26 atolls, of which only 250 islands are inhabited.
There are theories regarding the derivation of the name “Maldives”. Some people say it was derived from Maale Dhivehi Rajje meaning “The Island Kingdom Malé”. Others feel that name has been derived from the Sanskrit Word maladvipa meaning “garland of islands”.
There are many others who feel that name was derived from the Tamil mala tivu meaning “a garland of islands”.
Originally, the inhabitants of this country were Buddhists who later became Hindus. Islam came to the country in 1153 and became a Sultanate. In 1887, the country became a British protectorate. The country obtained independence from Britain in 1965 as a Sultanate and became a Republic in 1968.
It is the smallest country in Asia and also in the Muslim world. By an amendment made in the constitution of the republic in 2008, every citizen of the country must practice Islam.
Tourism is the main industry of the country. Tourism industry earns 27% of GDP of the country and brings in about 40% of foreign exchange earned by the country. Over 90% of government tax collection is from import duties and other taxes imposed on tourism industry. Fishing is the second most important industry of the country. The scope of agriculture is very limited because of limited availability of land. For this reason, most of food items consumed in the country are imported.
Tourists are attracted to this country because of its coral reefs and sea beaches. The first resorts were opened in 1972 in Bandos Island and in Kurumba village. Presently, there are 87 tourist resorts operating in the country. In 2006, 467,154 tourists visited Maldives.
The development of Tourism industry gave a boost to the cottage industry of the nation. Main product of cottage industry includes mat weaving, lacquer work, coir rope making and other handicrafts items.
The capital of the country is Malé and it is the largest city of the country. Its population was 104,403 in 2006. The city is the heart of all commercial activities of the country and slightly less than of the nation’s population live in this city. Visitors of the country would have to land at Malé International Airport located on the adjacent Hulhule Island.
This is a brief overview given about Maldives which might interest a person who would like to visit this country as a tourist.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 8:15 am and is filed under Maldives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.