Maldives

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The Republic of the Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean, the south-southwest of India. The Maldives comprises approximately 1,200 coral islands, grouped into twenty-six atolls, and covers an area of 300 square kilometers (116 square miles). The capital and most populated city of the Maldives is Male.

The Maldives long lived independently, with the exception of the period between 1556 and 1578, during which the Portuguese ruled. In 1887, the country became a British protectorate, which ended when it became a fully independent state on July 26, 1965. After independence, Ibrahim Nasir (b. 1926) served as president from 1968 to 1978. He was succeeded in 1978 by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (b. 1937), who has since been reelected as the president of the Maldives five times, in 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003.

The economic life of the Maldives relies heavily on tourism and fishing. The gross domestic product per capita in 2003 was $2,027. The total life expectancy is approximately 63 years, and the literacy rate for the total population is over 97 percent. Sunni Islam is the dominant religion, which profoundly shapes the social and political life of the Maldives. The common language is Dhivehi. The population of 339,330, as estimated in July 2004, is a blend of the ethnic groups that include Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, and African.

Historically, the Maldives were long ruled by sultans, although the sultanate regime became constitutional with the promulgation of the 1932 constitution. The Maldives experienced a very short period of republican form of government in 1953 and 1554, but the country remained a sultanate until 1968 when a republican form of government was instituted. The first constitution of the Republic of the Maldives was promulgated on June 4, 1968.

The government of the Maldives has three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary. The executive power is held by the president and cabinet, with political power highly centralized in the office of the president, who is both chief of the state and head of the government. The president is elected by the parliament (majlis) and has to be approved by the public in a yes-or-no referendum. The president is aided by the Council of Minister, which comprises the ministers of atolls. Ministers are appointed by the president and do not have to be members of the majlis.

The legislative power lies in the majlis, a unicameral parliament. The majlis consists of forty-eight members, forty of whom are elected for five-year terms, with eight appointed by the president. The judiciary is divided into courts of general and limited jurisdiction and includes a high court, civil court, criminal court, family and juvenile court, and 204 general courts. The legal system is based on a mixture of Islamic law and the English common law in commercial matters. Administratively, the country is divided into nineteen atolls and the capital city.

The political life of the Maldives is characterized by the absence of political parties and interest groups to organize citizen participation in political life. Parties and groups are discouraged due to the emphasis on unity and homogeneity. Despite the general and formal appreciation of human rights and freedoms, there are some restrictions and occasional violations of freedoms and rights, especially speech, press, and religion, and Freedom House rated the Maldives in 2004 as "not free."

Shari'a.

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The Ministry of Planning and National Development of the Republic of the Maldives, Statistic Section. "Maldives: Key Indicators 2004." Malé, Republic of the Maldives: The Ministry of Planning and National Development of the Republic of the Maldives, Statistic Section, 2004. <http://www.planning.gov.mv/yrb2 004/keyindicators/keyindi2k4.pdf> ;.

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. "Senegal." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2004. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/ hrrpt/2003/27948.htm>.

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of South Asian Affairs. "Background Note: Maldives." Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of South Asian Affairs, 2005. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bg n/5476.htm>.

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