Known by the Greeks as the “Money Isles”

These islands were settled by Buddhists and Hindus from Sri Lanka and India in the 6 th century In the 12 th century, the only allowed religion becomes Islam Portuguese overtake islands in the 16 th century The Maldives were first under Dutch and then under British protection. They became a republic in 1968, three years after independence. After riots in Male in August 2004, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and his government pledged to embark upon democratic reforms, including a more representative political system and expanded political freedoms.

The Republic of Maldives is among the worlds poorest nations The main industries are fish processing, tourism, shipping, boat building, coconut processing, garments, woven mats, rope, handicrafts, and coral and sand mining. Some sectors of the economy, mainly tourism and fishing, are growing The Maldives are an island country with strong connections to the South Asian subcontinent The United States alone consumes 33 times as much energy as the Maldives

The archipelago of 1,200 islands are mainly flat, with white sandy beaches The islands are crowned with rich forests and palms. They are ringed with sandy beaches, clear lagoons and barrier reefs The Maldives has a combined land area of 300sqkm, about 5 times smaller than Rhode Island The countries highest point is only 2.4m above sea level Having such low elevation, scientists predict that the islands could have been completely flooded by the 21 st century

With only a little over 300,000 people, the Maldives are still ethnically diverse and include South Indians, Sinhalese, Arabs Bodu Beru, or “big drum”, music and dance based on drumming is common Islam is the state religion, meaning that no other religions are allowed to be practiced The flag of the Maldives was first a plain red flag, then, a band of black and white stripes. In the early 21 st century, Prime Minister Amir Abdul Majid Didi introduced the green panel and white crescent In 2002, the Maldives, joined by Kiribati and Tuvalu, planned to sue the United states and Australia at the International Court of Justice. The plaintiffs had planned to argue that the developed nations’ disproportionate carbon dioxide emissions contributed to global warming