The history of the Maldives is buried in obscurity owing to the islands' geographical isolation and their comparative insignificance throughout the centuries, even though they are strategically located along the sea routes between Europe and the...

Maldives is a nation consisting of 26 natural atolls comprising of 1192 islands. Since very ancient times, the islands were ruled by kings (Radun) sultans and occasionally queens (Ranin) sultanas. Historically Maldives has had a strategic importance...

DECEMBER The pale sea stretches below, punctuated by flashes of green and gold where reefs and sunlight collide. As the plane tumbles forwards, pockets of land, so tiny they are barely visible, emerge from a blanket of blue. The wheels touch down...

Not everyone, it seems, has heard of Maldives. Hassan Sobir tells of a visit to China where an official scrutinised his passport with some puzzlement and eventually asked, politely, whether his country might have changed its name recently. The Chinese official had clearly...

To the tourists who fill its coffers, the Maldives is a paradise of private islands and secluded resorts. To the citizens who fill its cramped capital and far-flung atolls, it is a virtual dictatorship where dissent has been brutally quashed.Maldivians hope that will begin to...