1987 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1987 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Climate
tropical; hot, humid; dry, northwest monsoon (November to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Coastline
644 km
Comparative area
about twice the size of Washington D.C.
Environment
1,200 coral islands grouped into 19 atolls
Exclusive fishing zone
about 100 nm (defined by geographic coordinates)
Extended economic zone
irregular polygon varying in breadth from about 85 nm to more than 300 nm
Land use
10% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 8% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 84% other
Special notes
strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
Terrain
flat with elevations only as high as 2.5 meters
Territorial sea
irregular polygon varying in breadth from less than 3 nm to about 55 nm
Total area
300 km?; land area: 300 km?
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
admixtures of Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, and black
Infant mortality rate
88/1,000 (1984)
Labor force
about 66,000; fishing industry employs 80% of labor force
Language
Divehi (dialect of Sinhala; script derived from Arabic); English spoken by most government officials
Life expectancy
46.5
Literacy
36%
Nationality
noun—Maldivian(s); adijective—Maldivian
Population
195,837 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 3.65%
Religion
Sunni Muslim
Government
Administrative divisions
19 administrative districts corresponding to 19 atolls, plus capital city
Branches
popularly elected unicameral national legislature, People’s Council (members elected for five-year terms); elected President, chief executive; appointed Chief Justice responsible for administration of Islamic law
Capital
Male
Communists
negligible
Government leader
Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM, President (since 1978)
Legal system
based on Islamic law with admixtures of English common law primarily in commercial] matters; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction
Member of
ADB, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth (special member), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, ITU, NAM, OIC, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
National holidays
Independence Day, 26 July; Republic Day, 11 November
Official name
Republic of Maldives
Suffrage
universal over age 2] Political parties and leaders: no organized political parties; country governed by the Didi clan for the past eight centuries
Type
republic
Economy
Agriculture
crops—coconut, limited production of millet, corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes; shortages—rice, sugar, flour
Electric power
4,690 kW capacity; 9 million kWh produced, 50 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$22.8 million (1985)
Fishing
catch 179,000 metric tons (1985)
GDP
$76.7 million, $440 per capita (1984); 10% real growth rate (1983 est.)
Imports
$52.0 million (1985)
Major industries
fishing, tourism, some coconut processing, garment industry, woven mats, shipping, coir (rope)
Major trade partners
Japan, Sri Lanka,
Natural resources
fish