Medicine school:“Nace Bugjoni“:Kumanovo

Subject : English language

Topic : Maldives

Teacher : Student :
Mrs. Flora Ademi Almira Eshtrefi II-8

Content :
 Maldives
 Toponymy
 Budhist period
 Islamic Period
 Independence and republic
 21st ceuntry
 Geography
 Climate
 Sea level rise
 Environment
 Marine eco-system
 Human rights
 Tourism
 Fishing industry
 Culture

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 Maldives

The Maldives ,officially the Republic of Maldives, is a small island nation

in South Asia, located in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean.
Comprising a territory spanning roughly 298 square kilometres , the Maldives is
one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states as well as
the smallest Asian country by land area and population, with around 515,696
inhabitants.
 Malé is the capital and the most populated city, traditionally called the "King's
Island" for its central location.
The Maldives archipelago is located on the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast
submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean; this also forms a terrestrial
ecoregion, together with the Chagos Archipelago and Lakshadweep.
With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres above sea level, it is the
world's lowest-lying country, with even its highest natural point being one of
the lowest in the world, at 5.1 metres 

Flag Emblem

Toponymy
According to legends the first settlers of the Maldives were people known as
Dheyvis. The first Kingdom of the Maldives was known as Dheeva Maari. In the
3rd century BC during the visit of emissaries sent by Emperor Asoka, Maldives
was known as Dheeva Mahal.
During c. 1100 - 1166, Maldives was also referred as Diva Kudha and the
Laccadive archipelago which was a part of Maldives was then referred to as
Diva Khanbar by the scholar and polymath al-Biruni.
The Maldivian people are called Dhivehin. The word Dheeb/Deeb  means
"island", and Dhives means "islanders".The Dutch referred to the islands as

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the Maldivische Eilanden  while the British anglicised the local name for the
islands first to the "Maldive Islands" and later to "Maldives".
History

Budhist period

Despite being just mentioned briefly in most history books, the 1,400-year-long
Buddhist period has foundational importance in the history of the Maldives
because it was during this period that the culture of the Maldives both
developed and flourished, a culture which survives today. The
Maldivian language, early Maldive scripts, architecture, ruling institutions,
customs, and manners of the Maldivians originated at the time when the
Maldives were a Buddhist kingdom.
Buddhism probably spread to the Maldives in the 3rd century BC at the time of
Emperor Ashoka's expansion and became the dominant religion of the people
of the Maldives until the 12th century AD.

Islamic period

The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the 12th century
may partly explain why the last Buddhist king of Maldives, Dhovemi, converted
to Islam in the year 1153 (or 1193). Adopting the Muslim title of Sultan
Muhammad ibn Abdullah, he initiated a series of six Islamic dynasties that
lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective.
Compared to the other areas of South Asia, the conversion of the Maldives to
Islam happened relatively late. Arab traders had converted populations in
the Malabar Coast since the 7th century, and Muhammad Bin Qāsim had
converted large swathes of Sindh to Islam at about the same time. Arabic
became the prime language of administration and the Maliki, school of
jurisprudence was introduced, both hinting at direct contacts with the core of
the Arab world.
Independence and republic

In line with the broader British policy of decolonisation, on 26 July 1965 an

agreement was signed on behalf of the Sultan by Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri
Kilegefan, Prime Minister, and on behalf of the British government by Sir
Michael Walker, British Ambassador-designate to the Maldive Islands, which
ended the British responsibility for the defence and external affairs of the
Maldives.The islands thus achieved full political independence, with the
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ceremony taking place at the British High Commissioner's Residence
in Colombo. After this, the sultanate continued for another three years
under Sir Muhammad Fareed Didi, who declared himself King upon
independence.
On 15 November 1967, a vote was taken in parliament to decide whether the
Maldives should continue as a constitutional monarchy or become a republic.
Of the 44 members of parliament, 40 voted in favour of a republic. The
republic was declared on 11 November 1968, thus ending the 853-year-old
monarchy, which was replaced by a republic under the presidency of Ibrahim
Nasir.

21st ceuntry
On 26 December 2004, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake,
the Maldives were devastated by a tsunami. Only nine islands were reported
to have escaped any flooding, while fifty-seven islands faced serious damage to
critical infrastructure, fourteen islands had to be totally evacuated, and six
islands were destroyed. A further twenty-one resort islands were forced to
close because of tsunami damage and unfortunately 102 Maldivians and 6
foreigners reportedly died in the tsunami.
Social and political unrest grew in late 2011, following opposition campaigns in
the name of protecting Islam. Nasheed's vice president, Mohammed Waheed
Hassan, was sworn in as president,but he was later arrested, convicted of
terrorism, and sentenced to 13 years.
The elections in late 2013 were highly contested. Former president
Mohammed Nasheed won the most votes in the first round, but the Supreme
Court annulled it despite the positive assessment of international election
observers because in the re-run vote Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of the
former president Maumoon, assumed the presidency.
In the 2018 elections Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the most votes, and
became President.

The president of Maldives

Geography

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The Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of
26 atolls,making this one of the world's most dispersed countries.
Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with maximum and average
natural ground levels of only 2.4 metres and 1.5 metres above sea level,
respectively. In areas where construction exists, however, this has been
increased to several metres.
More than 80 per cent of the country's land is composed of coral islands which
rise less than one metre above sea level. As a result, the Maldives are at high
risk of being submerged due to rising sea levels. The UN's environmental
panel has warned that, at current rates, sea level rise would be high enough to
make the Maldives uninhabitable by 2100.

Geography of Maldives

Climate

The Maldives has a tropical monsoon climate which is affected by the large

landmass of South Asia to the north. Because the Maldives has the lowest
elevation of any country in the world, the temperature is constantly hot and
often humid. The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land
and water.Two seasons dominate Maldives' weather: the dry season
associated with the winter northeastern monsoon and the rainy season
associated with the southwest monsoon which brings strong winds and
storms.The shift from the dry northeast monsoon to the moist southwest
monsoon occurs during April and May. The annual rainfall averages 254
centimetres in the north and 381 centimetres in the south.
Sea level rise

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted the
upper limit of the sea level rises will be 59 centimetres by 2100, which means
that most of the republic's 200 inhabited islands may need to be abandoned.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed has been highly outspoken about this
issue, saying in 2012 that "If carbon emissions continue at the rate they are
climbing today, my country will be under water in seven years."He has called
for more climate change mitigation action and hosted "the world's first
underwater cabinet meeting" in 2009 to raise awareness of the threats posed
by climate change.
In 2008, President Mohamed Nasheed announced plans to look into
purchasing new land in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia because of his concerns
about global warming, and the possibility of much of the islands being
inundated with water from rising sea levels. The purchase of land will be made
from a fund generated by tourism. The President has explained his intentions:
"We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate
refugees living in tents for decades".
By 2020, Maldives plans to eliminate or offset all of its greenhouse gas
emissions.

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 Environment

Environmental issues other than sea level rise include bad waste disposal

and beach theft. Although the Maldives are kept relatively pristine and
little litter can be found on the islands, no good waste disposal sites exist. Most
trash from Malé and other resorts is simply dumped at Thilafushi. 31 protected
areas are administered by the Ministry of Environment and Energy and
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Maldives.

Marine eco-system

The Maldives have a range of different habitats including deep sea, shallow
coast, and reef ecosystems, fringing mangroves, wetlands and dry land. There
are 187 species of coral forming the coral reefs. This area of the Indian Ocean,
alone, houses 1100 species of fish, 5 species of sea turtle, 21 species of whale
and dolphin, 400 species of mollusc, and 83 species of echinoderms. The area
is also populated by a number of crustacean species: 120 copepod, 15
amphipod, as well as more than 145 crab and 48 shrimp species.
Among the many marine families represented
are Pufferfish, Fusiliers, Jackfish, Lionfish, Oriental Sweetlips, reef
sharks, Groupers, Eels, Snappers, Bannerfish, Batfish, Humphead
Wrasse, Scorpionfish, Lobsters, Nudibranches, Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Squirrel
fish, Soldierfish, Glassfish, Surgeonfish, Unicornfish, Triggerfish, Napoleon
wrasses, and Barracudas. These coral reefs are home to a variety of marine
ecosystems that vary from planktonic organisms to whale sharks. Sponges
have gained importance as five species have displayed anti-tumor and anti-
cancer properties,

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 Human Rights

Human rights in the Maldives is a contentious issue. In its 2011 Freedom in the

World report, Freedom House declared the Maldives "Partly Free", claiming a
reform process which had made headway in 2009 and 2010 had stalled.
 The United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor claims in
their 2012 report on human rights practices in the country that the most
significant problems are corruption, lack of religious freedom, and abuse and
unequal treatment of women.

Tourism

The Maldives remained largely unknown to tourists until the early 1970s. Only
189 islands are home to its 447,137 inhabitants. The other islands are used
entirely for economic purposes, of which tourism and agriculture are the most
dominant. The development of tourism fostered the overall growth of
the country's economy. It created direct and indirect employment and income
generation opportunities in other related industries. The first tourist resorts
were opened in 1972 with Bandos Island Resort and Kurumba Village
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(the current name is Kurumba Maldives), which transformed the Maldives
economy.
As of 2008, 89 resorts in the Maldives offered over 17,000 beds and hosted
over 600,000 tourists annually. In 2019 over 1.7 million visitors came to the
islands.
Visitors to the Maldives do not need to apply for a visa pre-arrival, regardless
of their country of origin, provided they have a valid passport, proof of onward
travel, and the money to be self-sufficient while in the country.

Kurumba Maldives

Fishing industry

For many centuries the Maldivian economy was entirely dependent on fishing
and other marine products. Fishing remains the main occupation of the people
and the government gives priority to the fisheries sector.
The mechanisation of the traditional fishing boat called dhoni in 1974 was a
major milestone in the development of the fisheries industry As of 2010,
fisheries contributed over 15% of the country's GDP and engaged about 30% of
the country's work force. Fisheries were also the second-largest foreign
exchange earner after tourism.

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 Culture

Since the 12th century AD there were also influences from Arabia in the
language and culture of the Maldives because of the conversion to Islam and
its location as a crossroads in the central Indian Ocean. This was due to the
long trading history between the far east and the middle east.
Reflective of this is the fact that the Maldives has had the highest national
divorce rate in the world for many decades. This, it is hypothesised, is due to a
combination of liberal Islamic rules about divorce and the relatively loose
marital bonds that have been identified as common in non- and semi-
sedentary peoples without a history of fully developed agrarian property and
kinship relations.

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