Place:Maldives

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Maldives, officially the Republic of the Maldives and also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean consisting of a double chain of twenty-six atolls, orientated north-south, that lie between Minicoy Island (the southernmost part of Lakshadweep, India) and the Chagos Archipelago. The chains stand in the Laccadive Sea, about south-west of Sri Lanka and south-west of India.

For the majority of its history, the Maldives has been a free nation, despite three instances during which it was ruled by outside forces. In the mid-fifteenth century, for fifteen years, the Maldives was dominated by the Portuguese Empire. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Dutch Empire (Malabar) dominated Maldives for four months. Finally, in the late eighteenth century, on the brink of war, the Maldives became a British protectorate from 1887 until 1965. The Dutch referred to the islands as the "Maldivische Eilanden", while the British anglicised the local name for the islands first to the "Maldive Islands" and later to the "Maldives". The islands gained independence from the British in 1965 and became a republic ruled by a sultanate and an authoritarian government.

The Maldives archipelago is located on top of the Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean. Maldives also form a terrestrial ecoregion together with the Chagos and the Lakshadweep. The Maldives atolls encompass a territory spread over roughly , making the country one of the world's most geographically dispersed. Its population of 328,536 (2012) inhabits 192 of its 1,192 islands. In 2006, Maldives' capital and largest city Malé, located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll, had a population of 103,693. Malé is one of the Maldives' administrative divisions and, traditionally, it was the "King's Island" where the ancient Maldive royal dynasties were enthroned.

The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in both population and land area. With an average ground level of above sea level, it is the planet's lowest country. It is also the country with the lowest natural highest point in the world, at .^[1] Not surprisingly, forecasts of Maldives' inundation are a great concern for the Maldivian people.

How places in Maldives are organized

All places in Maldives

• All places organized hierarchically
• All places organized alphabetically

Further information on historical place organization in Maldives

• Statoids.com
• Wikipedia article on Maldives subdivisions

Research Tips