General information

MALDIVES Sun, sand and sea, a thousand ‘Robinson Crusoe’ islands, massive lagoons with different depths and infinite shades of blue and turquoise, dazzling underwater coral gardens; a perfect natural combination for the ideal tropical holiday destination. However there is more to the Maldives than just that.

Resorts in the Maldives woo tourists with promises of 'the last paradise on earth'. If your idea of paradise is a pristine, tranquil tropical island with swaying palm trees, pure white beaches and brilliant turquoise lagoons, then the Maldives won't disappoint.

This group of 1,192 coral islands is also a major destination for scuba divers, who come for the fabulous reefs and the wealth of marine life; however, this is not a place for low budget backpackers or amateur anthropologists who want to travel independently and live as the locals do.

Tourism is strictly regulated, and independent travel is discouraged because it is seen as disruptive to traditional island communities. Those wanting to see the Maldivian way of life can visit Malé, the intriguing capital city, and make daytime visits to island communities close to resort islands. It's not impossible to visit the outer islands, but it's difficult enough to deter all but the most dedicated and determined. An Inter Atoll Travel Permit is required to visit islands outside the tourist zone, and the Ministry of Atolls Administration will only issue them to those whose visit is sponsored by a resident of the island concerned. Even charities working in the country after the 2004 tsunami were unable to get around this rule.

Air Maldives, the small national airline, has regular and very scenic flights to the four air strips in the outer atolls, while seaplane resort transfers are operated by Maldivian Air Taxi. Helicopters and seaplanes are used to transfer guests to some of the remoter resorts. The main form of local transport is the dhoni, a traditional all-purpose vessel now usually powered by a diesel engine. Larger boats called vedis are used for longer trips to outer atolls. Safari cruises in modified, live-aboard dhonis are increasingly popular, especially with dive groups who want to reach more remote sites. Most safari trips cruise around the tourist zone, but it is possible to arrange longer trips to the outer atolls - the operator will have to obtain the necessary permits. Most islands are so small that transport is not a problem, but there are taxis, motorcycles and bicycles in the capital.

Maldives is a nation consisting of 26 natural atolls comprising of 1192 islands. It is not known when the Maldives were settled for the first time. Comparative studies of the oral tradition reveal that the first settlers must have been Dravidian people from the nearest coasts, probably fishermen from the SW coasts of the Indian Subcontinent and the western shores of Sri Lanka. The first settlements of the Maldives must have happened many millennia ago, for there is a lack of a proper myth relating the settlement of the islands.

These first Maldivian settlers didn't leave any archaeological remains. The reason is that their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials which would quickly decay in the tropical climate. Moreover, their chiefs or headmen didn't live in elaborate stone palaces, and their religion did not require the building of large temples or compounds. Therefore, in spite of the fact that the Maldives have been populated in a continuous manner for perhaps many thousands of years, the first archaeological remains in the Maldives are from the Buddhist period.

Since very ancient times, the islands were ruled by kings (Radun) sultans and occasionally queens (Ranin) sultanas. 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. The Maldives provided the main source of cowrie shells, then used as a currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast.

After the 16th century, when European colonial powers took over much of the trade in the Indian Ocean, first the Portuguese, and then the Dutch, and the French occasionally meddled with local politics. However, these interferences ended when the Maldives became a British Protectorate in the 19th century and the Maldivian monarchs were granted a good measure of self-governance.

Maldives gained total independence in 1965. However, the British, continued to maintain an air base on the island of Gan in the southernmost atoll until 1976. The British departure in 1976 at the height of the Cold War almost immediately triggered foreign speculation about the future of the air base. Apparently the Soviet Union made a move to request the use of the base, but the Maldives refused.

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, agriculture 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. Fortunately in the early 2000s it was found sea level had fallen during preceding decades.