SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRY: MALDIVES

Md. Abu Ryhan

Department of Geography and Environment

University of Dhaka.
 INDEX
SL Topics

01. Geographical Location

02. Land and Boundaries

2.1 Elevation

03. General Information as a Country

04. Political Origin of the Land

4.1 Appearance of Islam
4.2 Arrival of Europeans
05. Physiography

06. Climate
07. Soil
08. Agriculture
09. Economic
9.1 Fishing
9.2 Tourism
9.3 Industries
10. Ethnic Mosaic
11. Population
11.1 Quick Facts
11.2 Age Structure
11.3 Religion
12. Natural Resources
13. Problems and Threat
14. Relation with SAARC
1. Geographical Location of Maldives
The Maldives is a nation of islands in the Indian
Ocean, that spans across the equator. The
Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped
in a double chain of 26 atolls, that stretch along a
length of 871 kilometers (541 miles) north to
south, 130 kilometers (81 miles) east to west,
spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers
(35,000 sq mi), of which only
2
298 km (115 sq mi) is dry land, making this one
of the world's most dispersed countries. It lies
between latitudes 1°S and 8°N, and
longitudes 72° and 74°E. The atolls are
composed of live coral reefs and sand bars,
situated atop a submarine ridge 960 kilometers
(600 mi) long that rises abruptly from the depths
of the Indian Ocean and runs north to south. FIG: Location of Maldives

2. Land and Boundaries

Total land Area: 298 square kilometers (115.1 square miles)
Coastline: 644 kilometers (400 mi)
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
Territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers; 13.8 miles)
Contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles (44.4 km; 27.6 mi)
Exclusive economic zone: 923,322 km2 (356,497 sq mi; 269,198 sq nautical miles)

2.1 Elevation extremes:

Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Highest point: unnamed location on Vilingili Island in the Addu Atoll 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) [The
Maldives constitute the flattest country, i.e. they have the lowest high-point, of any country in the
world).

3. General Information as a Country

Republic of the Maldives

Capital : Male
Independence Day : July 26th, 1965
 Government Type : Republic of Maldives
Total Area : 298 sq km (210th)
Population : 551,287 (2021)
Life Expectancy : 74.5 (2021)
Climate : Tropical hot and humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to
March; rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Terrain : Flat with white sandy beaches
Languages : Dhivehi (official), English
Religion : Sunni Muslim
Currency : Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR)
GDP Per Capita : 10,626.51 (World Bank, 2019)
Industries : Tourism, fish processing, shipping, boat building, coconut
processing, woven mats, rope, handicrafts, coral and sand mining
Export : Fish
Import : Petroleum product, clothing, intermediate and capital goods.

4. Political Origin of the Land

Maldives is an isolated nation and is among the smallest and poorest countries in the world. In olden
times, the islands provided the main source of cowrie shells, then used as currency throughout Asia
and parts of the East African coast. Moreover,
historically Maldives has had a strategic
importance because of its location on the major
marine routes of the Indian Ocean. Maldives'
nearest neighbors are Sri Lanka and India, both
of which have had cultural and economic ties
with Maldives for centuries. Although under
nominal Portuguese, Dutch, and British
influences after the sixteenth century,
Maldivians were left to govern themselves
under a long line of sultans and occasionally
sultanas.
Maldives gained independence in 1965. The
British, who had been Maldives' last colonial
power, continued to maintain an air base on the
island of Gan in the southernmost atoll until
1976. The British departure in 1976 almost
immediately triggered foreign speculation about
the future of the air base; the Soviet Union
requested use of the base, but Maldives refused. FIG: Political Map of Maldives

The greatest challenge facing the republic in the early 1990s was the need for rapid economic
development and modernization, given the country's limited resource base in fishing and tourism.
Concern was also evident over a projected long-term rise in sea level, which would prove disastrous
to the low-lying coral islands.
4.1 Appearance of Islam
Maldivians consider the introduction of Islam in A.D. 1153 as the cornerstone of their country's
history. Islam remains the state religion in the 1990s. Except for a brief period of Portuguese
occupation from 1558-73, Maldives also has remained independent. Because the Muslim religion
prohibits images portraying gods, local interest in ancient statues of the pre- Islamic period is not
only slight but at times even hostile; villagers have been known to destroy such statues recently
unearthed.

4.2 Arrival of Europeans

Portuguese: In 1558 the Portuguese established themselves on Maldives, which they administered
from Goa on India's west coast. Fifteen years later, a local guerrilla leader named Muhammad
Thakurufaan organized a popular revolt and drove the Portuguese out of Maldives. This event is now
commemorated as National Day, and a small museum and memorial center honor the hero on his
home island of Utim on South Tiladummati Atoll.
Dutch: In the mid-seventeenth century, the Dutch, who had replaced the Portuguese as the dominant
power in Ceylon, established hegemony over Maldivian affairs without involving themselves directly
in local matters, which were governed according to centuries-old Islamic customs. However, the
British expelled the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included Maldives as a British protected area.
The status of Maldives as a British protectorate was officially recorded in an 1887 agreement in
which the sultan accepted British influence over Maldivian external relations and defense. The British
had no presence, however, on the leading island community of Male. They left the islanders alone,
as had the Dutch, with regard to internal administration to continue to be regulated by Muslim
traditional institutions.
British: During the British era from 1887 to 1965, Maldives continued to be ruled under a succession
of sultans. The sultans were hereditary until 1932 when an attempt was made to make the sultanate
elective, thereby limiting the absolute powers of sultans. At that time, a constitution was introduced
for the first time, although the sultanate was retained for an additional twenty-one years. Maldives
remained a British crown protectorate until 1953 when the sultanate was suspended and the First
Republic was declared under the short-lived presidency of Muhammad Amin Didi. This first elected
president of the country introduced several reforms. While serving as prime minister during the
1940s, Didi nationalized the fish export industry. As president he is remembered as a reformer of the
education system and a promoter of women's rights. Muslim conservatives in Male eventually ousted
his government, and during a riot over food shortages, Didi was beaten by a mob and died on a nearby
island.
On July 26, 1965, Maldives gained independence under an agreement signed with Britain. The British
government retained the use of the Gan and Hitaddu facilities. In a national referendum in March
1968, Maldivians abolished the sultanate and established a republic. The Second Republic was
proclaimed in November 1968 under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir, who had increasingly
dominated the political scene. Under the new constitution, Nasir was elected indirectly to a four-year
presidential term by the Majlis (legislature).

5. Physiography of Maldives
Maldives consists of approximately 1,200 coral islands grouped in a double chain of twenty-seven
atolls. Composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, these atolls are situated atop a submarine ridge
960 kilometers long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to
south. Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe
ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of
Maldives. For administrative purposes the Maldives government organized these atolls into nineteen
administrative divisions.
Most atolls consist of a large, ring-shaped coral reef
supporting numerous small islands. Islands average only one
to two square kilometers in area, and lie between one and 1.5
meters above mean sea level. The highest island is situated at
three meters above sea level. Maldives has no hills or rivers.
Although some larger atolls are approximately fifty
kilometers long from north to south, and thirty kilometers
wide from east to west, no individual island is longer than
eight kilometers.
Each atoll has approximately five to ten inhabited islands; the
uninhabited islands of each atoll number approximately
twenty to sixty. Several atolls, however, consist of one large,
isolated island surrounded by a steep coral beach. The most
notable example of this type of atoll is the large island of Fua
Mulaku situated in the middle of the Equatorial Channel.
The tropical vegetation of Maldives comprises groves of
breadfruit trees and coconut palms towering above dense
scrub, shrubs, and flowers. The soil is sandy and highly
alkaline, and a deficiency in nitrogen, potash, and iron
severely limits agricultural potential. Ten percent of the land,
or about 2,600 hectares, is cultivated with taro, bananas,
coconuts, and other fruit. Only the lush island of Fua Mulaku
produces fruits such as oranges and pineapples partly
because the terrain of Fua Mulaku is higher than most other
islands, leaving the groundwater less subject to seawater
penetration. Freshwater floats in a layer, or "lens," above the
seawater that permeates the limestone and coral sands of the
islands. These lenses are shrinking rapidly on Male and on
many islands where there are resorts catering to foreign
tourists. Mango trees already have been reported dying on
Male because of salt penetration. Most residents of the atolls
depend on groundwater or rainwater for drinking purposes.
Concerns over global warming and a possible long-term rise
in sea level as a result of the melting of polar ice are
important issues to the fragile balance between the people
and the environment of Maldives in the 1990s. FIG: Physiographic map of
Maldives.

6. Climate of Maldives
The temperature of Maldives ranges between 24°C and 33°C throughout the year. Although the
humidity is relatively high, the constant sea breezes help to keep the air moving. Two seasons
dominate Maldives' weather: the dry season associated with the winter northeast monsoon and the
rainy season brought by the summer southwest monsoon. The annual rainfall averages 2,540
millimeters in the north and 3,810 millimeters in the south.
The weather in Maldives is affected by the large landmass of the Indian subcontinent to the north.
The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water. Scientists also cite other
factors in the formation of monsoons, including the barrier of the
Himalayas on the northern fringe of the Indian subcontinent and the
sun's northward tilt, which shifts the jet stream north. These factors
set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over the
subcontinent, resulting in the southwest monsoon. The hot air that
rises over the subcontinent during April and May creates low-pressure
areas into which the cooler, moisture-bearing winds from the Indian
Ocean flow. In Maldives, the wet southwest monsoon lasts from the
end of April to the end of October and brings the worst weather with
strong winds and storms. In May 1991 violent monsoon winds created
tidal waves that damaged thousands of houses and piers, flooded
arable land with seawater, and uprooted thousands of fruit trees. The
damage caused was estimated at US$30 million.
The shift from the moist southwest monsoon to the dry northeast
monsoon over the Indian subcontinent occurs during October and
November. During this period, the northeast winds contribute to the
formation of the northeast monsoon, which reaches Maldives in the
beginning of December and lasts until the end of March. However,
the weather patterns of Maldives do not always conform to the
monsoon patterns of the Indian subcontinent. Rain showers over the
whole country have been known to persist for up to one week during
the midst of the dry season.

FIG: Climatic map of Maldives.

7. Soil of Maldives
The soils of the Maldives are geologically young and consist of substantial quantities of the
unweathered coral parent material, coral rock and sand. In most of the places, soils are coarse in
texture and shallow in depth with a top layer of brown soil (0 to 40 cm in depth) followed by a
transition zone on top of the underlying parent material of coral reef limestone (MFAMR, 1995). In
some low-lying areas and areas subjected to significant mechanical breakdown from human activity,
fine deep soils are found with accumulated deposits of clay. In a lagoon environment (locally called
kulhi) the depth of the clay may be substantial due to the accumulation of material from marine and
biological sources over a long period of time (MEEW, 2006). In many places, top layers of the soils
have a weakly developed structure and at times a 30 cm thick hard-pan layer cemented with calcium
carbonate is present, preventing penetration of the roots of most plants except large trees. The water-
holding capacity of the soil is very poor due high porosity and very high infiltration rates.
The soils of the Maldives are generally alkaline with pH values between 8.0 and 8.8. This is mainly
due to the presence of excess calcium and, soils containing higher levels of humus, as in depressions
and lagoons, are less alkaline. The soils are generally poor and deficient in nitrogenous nutrients,
potassium and several micronutrients particularly iron, manganese and zinc. Though the phosphorus
content of the soils is high it is present mostly in the form of calcium phosphate and, thus, remains
unavailable to plants.

8. Agriculture of Maldives
Only 10% of the land is estimated to be cultivable. Millet, corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes,
pineapples, sugarcane, almonds, and many kinds of tropical vegetables and fruits are successfully
grown, largely in homestead gardens. Coconut palms provide copra and coir, the most important
exports after fish. Virtually all rice, a staple food for the population, must be imported. Breadfruit,
mangoes, papayas, limes, bananas, pumpkins, watermelon, taro, and chili peppers are also valuable
crops. As of 1999, small amounts of corn, millet, and sorghum were cultivated. Production in 1999
included 12,000 tons of coconuts and 2,000 tons of copra.

9. Economic of Maldives
9.1 Fishing
Formerly, Maldives shipped 90 percent of its fishing catch of tuna in dried form to Sri Lanka.
However, because Sri Lanka cut back its imports of such fish, in 1979 Maldives joined with the
Japanese Marubeni Corporation to form the Maldives Nippon Corporation that canned and processed
fresh fish. Also, in 1979 the Maldivian government created the Maldives Fisheries Corporation to
exploit fisheries resources generally.
Maldives has an extensive fishing fleet of boats built domestically of coconut wood, each of which
can carry about twelve persons. In 1991 there were 1,258 such pole and line fishing boats and 352
trawlers. Based on a US$3.2 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA),
most of the boats have been mechanized in the course of the 1980s. Although the addition of motors
has increased fuel costs, it has resulted in doubling the fishing catch between 1982 and 1985.
Moreover, the 1992 catch of 82,000 tons set a record-- for example, in 1987 the catch was 56,900
tons.
Progress has also been made as a result of fisheries development projects undertaken by the World
Bank. Harbor and refrigeration facilities have been improved, leading to a fourfold increase in
earnings from canned fish between 1983 and 1985. Further construction of fisheries refrigeration
installations and related facilities such as collector vessels were underway in 1994, with funding both
from Japan and the World Bank.

9.2 Tourism
Because of its clear waters, distinctive corals, and sandy white beaches, Maldives has many features
to attract tourists. As a result, tourism by 1989 had become the country's major source of foreign
exchange, surpassing fishing. In 1992 tourism income constituted 17 percent of GDP. Furthermore,
tourism is expected to increase as the government infrastructure improvement projects in the areas
of transportation, communications, sanitation, water supply, and other support facilities are put into
place.
Since the 1970s, approximately fifty resorts, mostly consisting of thatched bungalows, have been
built on many uninhabited islands on Male Atoll. In 1990 a dozen new resorts were under
construction on Maldives. In the following year, 196,112 tourists visited Maldives, primarily from
Germany, Italy, Britain, and Japan in that order.
Tourist facilities have been developed by private companies and in 1991 consisted of sixty-eight
"island resorts" with nearly 8,000 hotel beds. Tourists are not allowed to stay on Male so as not to
affect adversely the Muslim life-style of the indigenous people. Wilingili Island has also been off
limits for tourist accommodation since 1990 to allow for population overflow from Male to settle
there.

9.3 Industries
The industrial sector provides only about 7% of GDP. Traditional industry consists of boat building
and handicrafts, while modern industry is limited to a few tuna canneries, five garment factories, a
bottling plant, and a few enterprises in the capital producing PVC pipe, soap, furniture, and food
products. There are no patent laws in the Maldives.

10. Ethnic Mosaic of Maldives

The contemporary homogeneous mixture of Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, Australasian, and African
ethnicity in Maldives results from historical changes in regional hegemony over marine trade routes.
Clarence Maloney, an anthropologist who conducted fieldwork in Maldives in the 1970s, determined
that an early Dravidian-speaking substratum of population from Kerala in India had settled in the
islands, leaving its legacy in the language and place-names. This group was subsequently displaced
by Dhivehi-speakers who arrived from Sri Lanka and whose language became the official one. Arabs
compose the last main group to arrive beginning in the ninth century. However, a rapidly
disappearing endogamous subgroup of persons of African origin called the Ravare or Giraavaru also
existed. In 1970, facing the loss of their home island in Male Atoll because of erosion, the Ravare
moved to Hulele. But a few years later, the community of 200 people were transferred to Male to
permit the expansion of the airport on Hulele.
The only distinct ethnic minority is found in Male among the trading community of Indians, who
settled there in the 1800s. Several hundred in number, they are also a religious minority, belonging
to the Shia branch of Islam. In addition, a small number of Sri Lankans have come to Maldives in
recent years to work in the tourist resorts because Maldivians, as devout Muslims, refuse to work in
facilities serving alcoholic beverages. This situation has created some resentment on the part of local
Maldivians facing unemployment.
The language Maldivian Dhivehi belongs to the Indo-European language family. Derived from Elu,
an archaic form of Sinhalese (the language of Sri Lanka), it has numerous loanwords from Arabic,
from Hindi--which is used in trade with Indian merchants- -and from Tamil. It has contributed one
word, "atoll," to international usage. In Dhivehi, the numbers from one to twelve are of Sinhalese
origin, and after twelve, Hindi. The names of the days are Sinhalese and Hindi. The names of persons
are Arabic.
Dhivehi is spoken throughout the atolls. Dialect differences are pronounced in the four southernmost
atolls, however. The traditional script, Thaana, is written from right to left. This locally invented
script contains twenty-four letters, the first nine of which are forms of the Arabic numerals. In 1977
a romanized script was introduced to be used along with Thaana for official correspondence, but
since 1979 the requirement is no longer mandatory.

11. Population of Maldives

During 2021 Maldives population is projected to increase by 9,734 people and reach 555,074 in the
beginning of 2022. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed
the number of deaths by 9,751. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the
population will be declined by 16 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people
who leave Maldives to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number
of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as
permanent residents (immigrants).
 Population of Maldives 1950-2020
600,000

500,000

400,000
Population

300,000

200,000

100,000

Years

FIG: Population of Maldives.

11.1 Quick facts about the population of Maldives

Current population (2021)
551,287
Population rank
174 (0.01%)
Total area
300 km2 (116 mi2)
Population density
1,837.6 per km2 (4,759.4 people/mi2)
Sex ratio
1.02 (277,769 men to 273,521 women)
Median age
27.9 years
Life expectancy
74.5 years (72.2 - men, 76.8 - women)
Literacy
99.3 %
(WorldMeter, 2020)

11.2 Maldives age structure

As of the beginning of 2021 according to our estimates Maldives had the following population age
distribution:
 21.5 74.4 4.1

- percentage of population under 15

- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 117,314 young people under 15 years old (59,824 males / 57,490 females)
• 405,787 persons between 15 and 64 years old (244,874 males / 160,913 females)
• 22,239 persons above 64 years old 10,890 males / 11,349 females)
We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3
main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and
64 and population which is over 65-year-old.
65+
15-64
0-14

male female
Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have
different number of years.
As we can see the Maldives population pyramid has a stationary type. Countries with such type of
pyramid usually have declining birth rate and relatively low death rate. This is more common for
developed countries.
Source: The estimation data for section "Maldives age structure" is based on the latest demographic
and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division

11.3 Religion in Maldives

With the exception of Shia members of the Indian trading community, Maldivians are Sunni
Muslims; adherence to Islam, the state religion since the twelfth century, is required for citizenship.
The importance of Islam in Maldives is further evident in the lack of a secular legal system. Instead,
the traditional Islamic law code of sharia, known in Dhivehi as sariatu, forms the basic law code of
Maldives as interpreted to conform to local Maldivian conditions by the president, the attorney
general, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Majlis. On the inhabited islands, the miski, or mosque,
forms the central place where Islam is practiced. Because Friday is the most important day for
Muslims to attend mosque, shops and offices in towns and villages close around 11 a.m., and the
sermon begins by 12:30 p.m. Most inhabited islands have several mosques; Male has more than
thirty. Most mosques are whitewashed buildings constructed of coral stone with corrugated iron or
thatched roofs. In Male, the Islamic Center and the Grand Friday Mosque, built in 1984 with funding
from the Persian Gulf states, Pakistan, Brunei, and Malaysia, are imposing elegant structures. The
gold-colored dome of this mosque is the first structure sighted when approaching Male. In mid-1991
Maldives had a total of 724 mosques and 266 women's mosques.
The number of populations of various religion group in Maldives is as follow:

Religion Number of followers Percentage of total population

Islam 543,569 98.6 %
Buddhism 3,308 0.6 %
Christianity 2,756 0.5 %
Hinduism 1,654 0.3 %
Source: Pew Research Center, Maldives (2020)

12. Problems and Threats of Maldives

As a small, island county, Maldives faces a several number of problems. Some of the problems are
discussed below:
Unemployment in Maldives
One of the most significant challenges facing the Maldivian economy is unemployment. In 2017, the
Maldivian government estimated that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 5% which was a
small drop from the 2016 unemployment rate of 5.03%. The Maldivian government has put in place
several strategies to increase the number of jobs in the country and grow the country’s economy.

Poverty and Income Disparity

The difficulty of accessing social services and infrastructure in the outer atolls has meant that
geography is a key reason for poverty and income disparity in Maldives. In islands far from the
capital, there tends to be lack of production, inadequate use of fishery resources, low value chain
development and insufficient credit for small-scale producers and entrepreneurs. The scarcity of land
and water, the underdeveloped farming practices and absence of support services in atolls has meant
low production and thus low incomes in these regions.

12.3 Gender Inequality

Maldives also faces gender inequality. In a nationwide survey in 2007, it was established that one in
every three Maldivian women between the ages of 15-39 has been a victim of domestic violence.
The labor force participation rate of women decreased from 60% in 1978 to 37% in 2005. Maldives
faces skill shortages and human resource development constraints causing fewer women to be
employed.

Coral Mining
There is growing concern towards the coral reef and marine life due to coral mining (used for
building and jewelry making), sand dredging, solid waste pollution and oil spills from boats. Mining
of sand and coral has destroyed the natural coral reef that once protected several important islands,
now making them highly susceptible to the erosive effects of the sea. The destruction of large coral
beds due to heat is also a growing concern.
Sea Level Rise
In April 1987, high tides swept over the Maldives, inundating much of Male and nearby islands which
prompted Maldivian authorities to take global climatic changes seriously. An INQUA research in
2003 found that actual sea levels in the Maldives had dropped in the 1970s and forecasts little change
in the next century.

Fish Reduction
There is also concern over the questionable shark fishing practices in place in the island. Shark fishing
is forbidden by law, but these laws are not enforced. The population of sharks has sharply decreased
in recent years.

Brown Cloud
The Asian brown cloud hovering in the atmosphere over the northern Indian Ocean is also another
concern. Studies show that decreased sunshine and increased acid rain source from this cloud.[28]

13. Resources of Maldives

The Maldives is an island nation and it is part of the Asian continent. The Maldivian economy is
reliant on the country’s natural resources which include fish, arable land, and the country’s beautiful
scenery.

Beautiful Scenery
The Maldives is considered one of the most beautiful nations on earth which attract a large number
of tourists to the country each year. Some of the most beautiful areas in the Maldives include the
country’s islands and the sandy beaches. One of the most popular Maldivian beaches is situated on
the island of Fulhadhoo which is located approximately 63 miles northwest of the Male, the country’s
capital. The Maldives is also popular with snorkelers because of the clear deep waters that surround
the island. The coral reefs of the Maldives are also a popular tourist attraction as the country has
roughly 3% of all the coral reefs in the world. The tourism industry is the most critical in the Maldives
as it contributes on average approximately 30% of the country’s GDP. According to the Maldivian
government, the country’s tourism industry employed roughly 25,000 people.

Arable Land
As of 2014, the arable land in the country accounted for about 13% of the total territory of the
Maldives. The agriculture industry is one of the smaller sectors of the Maldivian economy and on
average it only contributes 6% of the country’s GDP. The government of the Maldives partnered with
the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to develop the country’s agricultural sector and attain
self-sufficiency in the production of several crops.

Fish
One of the essential natural resources in the Maldives is fish which are mostly obtained from the
Indian Ocean. Some of the varieties of fish found within the territorial waters of the Maldives include
the parrotfish, barracuda, and the bluestripe snapper. The fishing industry is among the most crucial
sectors of the Maldivian economy as it employs a large segment of the Maldivian labor force. In
1995, the Maldivian government estimated that the country’s fishing fleet was made up of more than
1,600 vessels. In 2006, the Maldivian government estimated that the country’s fishermen caught
roughly 184,000 tons of fish. Pelagic fishing is considered the most viable form of commercial
fishing in the Maldives. Most Maldivian pelagic fishers exploit the skipjack tuna and the yellowfin
tuna. Some of the most common methods used by Maldivian fishermen to catch tuna include using
handlines and pole lines.

14. Relation with SAARC

The Maldives is a founder member of SAARC. The country plays an active role in SAARC policy
formation. It was the first country to propose the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), the
formulation of a Social Charter, the initiation of informal political consultations in SAARC forums
and the lobbying for greater action on environmental issues.
The Maldives is involved in overseeing the human rights measures and policies. The proposal of
setting up a regional convention on child rights and for setting up a SAARC Human Rights Resource
Centre was put forth by The Maldives. The Maldives is also an advocate of greater international
profile for SAARC by formulating common positions at the UN. The Maldives also plays an active
role in suppression of terrorism and disarmament.
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