Maldives

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

In total, US$108 million, or approximately two percent of its GDP on its military.

The Army of the Maldives, called the Maldives national defence force, consists of a coast guard, an air force that supports the Coast Guard and specialized land forces.

Military membership

The Maldives is a member of two international military organizations which makes it the 181st most connected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Non-Aligned Movement

Military membership

International wars

Since its independence, the Maldives has not partaken in any international war.

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

The Maldives is the 110th most connected state in the world when it comes to political organizations. It is a member of the following 11 organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Colombo Plan
Commonwealth of Nations
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Organization of Islamic Cooperation
International Criminal Court
Interpol
Association of World Election Bodies
World Organization for Animal Health

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Aside from having the power to appoint and dismiss members of Parliament, the office of the president of the Maldives have been put into question. Aside from mismanagement and imprisoning political opponents, the election results have been questionable as well. This makes the Maldives the 123rd most democratic state in the world.

Democracy/Dictatorship

The politics of the Maldives are in the form of a democratic republic where the president is head of government. This Republic was instated in 1968 when the majority of people chose to be represented by a president instead of a Sultan. Despite this transition, the president of the Maldives has a relatively high amounts of power which is similar to a Sultan.

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If you want to know more about other states, click on the flag on the right to discover Mali.

Known for its exclusive holiday resorts as well as its iconic beaches on more than 1000 islands, the Maldives is among the most remote states in the world. Its first people arrived when sailors from India and Sri Lanka arrived there are around the fifth century BC. After coming in contact with Islam during the eighth century, Islam became the dominant religion during the 12th century. The Maldives were shortly occupied by the Portuguese during the 16th century, it became fully colonized by the British at the end of the 18th century. Since then, it has slowly gained independence when it became a self-governing protectorate at the end of the 19th century, an independent member of the British Commonwealth in 1953 and a fully independent state outside of the British Commonwealth in 1965. Since its independence, it has become a relatively stable Republic.

Located in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives consists of a large number of atolls and small island chains. The majority of its islands are flat, consists of sandy beaches as well as lightly forested areas. Because it is an island state, it does not border other states.

With a total surface area of 302 square kilometers or 121 square miles, the Maldives the 186th largest state in the world being slightly smaller than Malta and slightly larger than St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Maldives to not have permanent bodies of water.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

Because the Maldives did not have surface water, they are fully reliance on ground water and rain water which are considered extremely scarce.

The Maldives has a tropical climate and are characterized by a wet and dry season, but does not experience a large variation of temperature throughout the year. With an average temperature of 27.7 degrees Celsius or 81.8 degrees Fahrenheit, the Maldives is the sixth warmest state in the world.

During the dry season, the Maldives have an average temperature of 30.1 degrees Celsius or 86.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the wet season, the average temperature is 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Its rain season is from May to October where around 70 percent of all of its precipitation occurs. On average, the Maldives receives 218 centimetres or 83 inches of rainfall per year making it the 27th state with the highest amount of rainfall.

The capital of the Maldives is Malé which has a population of approximately 100,000 people. The capital that is closest located to Malé is Colombo Sri Lanka with a distance of 770 kilometers or 478 miles. The capital that is furthest located from Malé is Guatemala City of Guatemala with a distance of 17,657 kilometers or 10,971 miles.

Because of its small size and geographical distance to other states, the Maldives has a heavy limitation in the diversifying its economy. Currently, the main export good is fish which is mainly exported to Thailand and Germany which combined represent nearly 50 percent of all exports. Most of its imports comes from China and the United Arab Emirates which combined represent more than 30 percent of all imports. Aside from the fishing industry, the Maldives is heavily reliant on the tourism sector which accounts for more than 25 percent of its GDP.

The Maldives is a member of 12 international economic organizations which makes it the 99th most connected state. It is a member of the following organizations:

Alliance for Financial Inclusion
Asian Development Bank
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
International Monetary Fund
Islamic Development Bank
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
Indian Ocean Rim Association
International Renewable Energy Agency
International Solar Alliance
Group of 77

Its GDP is the 158th highest in the world with US$5.2 billion. This represents 0.006 percent of total global GDP.

Despite its small size, its economic output per surface area is the 11th highest in the world with US$17.3 million per square kilometer or US$43.2 million per square mile.

Its GDP per capita is US$10,591 which makes it the 69th highest in the world.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

Its purchasing power per capita is 25,528 US dollars which is the 59th highest in the world.

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

As the 167th most populous state in the world, the Maldives houses nearly 500,000 people. The main language of the Maldives is Dhivehi, which is its official language. Other languages are Arab, Hindi and English. The Maldives is an ethnically homogeneous state that comprises of a mix between Indian, Southeast Asian and Arab ethnicities that arrived in the Maldives over the centuries.

With 4071 people per square mile or 1628 people per square kilometer, the Maldives is the fourth most densely populated state in the world.

Less than 5000 people, or 0.5 percent of the population have migrated to other states. The main destinations have been India and Australia which both represents approximately 50 percent. This makes the Maldives the 192nd states with the highest number of emigrants.

Because of its limited resources, the Maldives does not have an open immigration policy. Despite this policy, the Maldives is in need of skilled labour primarily attracts from India and Bangladesh. Currently, around 62,000 emigrants reside within the Maldives which represents 16.5 percent of the population. This makes the Maldives the 113th state with the highest number of immigrants representing 0.025 percent of total global immigration.

At the end of the 20th century, the government of the Maldives had made a large investment into its educational system. This has led to a rapid increase for its literacy rate that has risen from 70 percent in 1980 to 98.5 percent. Despite its high percentage, the Maldives has not attained universal education.

Healthcare in the Maldives has made great strides over the last three decades. Because of economic growth and continuous investment in its healthcare system, the Maldives has been able to reduce and eradicates certain communicable diseases. Currently, the leading cause of death are noncommunicable diseases. The average life expectancy is the 100th highest in the world with 79.9 years. Women reach an average age of 81.6 years while men reach an average age of 78.5 years.

The state of the Maldives acknowledges Islam as its state religion. The expression of other religions is prohibited in public and can be fined with imprisonment.

Just over 1000 people, or 0.2 percent of the population adheres to Christianity. This makes the Maldives the 147th most Christian state in the world. The largest denomination of these Christians is the Church of South India followed by Catholicism. Because of religious persecution by the state, many Christians have migrated from the Maldives throughout the century.

Islam was introduced during the eighth century when Muslim traders arrived to the Maldives. During this period, the Maldives was a Buddhist state which slowly converted to Islam with the last King converting at the end of the 12th century. Currently, 98.4 percent of the population adheres to Islam which makes it the eighth most Islamic state in the world.

An estimated 0.6 percent of the population adheres to Buddhism. Even though Buddhism is banned from the Maldives, and its religious artifacts have been destroyed as well by the population.

0.2 percent of the population adheres to Hinduism. These are mainly skilled laborers that are attracted to from India in order to work in the Maldives.

There are no Jews residing in the Maldives.

There are no other religions in the Maldives.

Irreligion is seen as a taboo in the Maldives and is represented by 0.04 percent of the population. Despite not expressing a religion, many irreligious people experience discrimination.