Maldivas

Interesting Facts About Maldivas

• The Maldives is an archipelagic country comprising 26 atolls stretching across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.
• The largest ethnic group are Maldivians (Dhivehin), who are principally an Indo-Aryan people with traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes.
• The official language is Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to Sinhala. The modern Thaana script is written from right to left and is derived from a mix of the old Dhives Akuru script and Arabic abjad.
• English is widely spoken by locals, having firmly established itself following the nation's opening to the outside world and its adoption as a medium of instruction at secondary and tertiary education levels.
• Sunni Islam is the state religion, and Arabic is taught in schools and mosques as part of formal and informal education.
• In 2022, approximately 41% of the population resided in the capital Malé, compared to just 27% in 2000, showing a significant concentration trend.
• A historically small Tamil population known as the Giraavaru people has been almost completely assimilated into Maldivian society after their native island was evacuated in 1968.

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