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The Maldives is an archipelagic state in the Indian Ocean known for its luxurious water villas. A tropical haven of white sand beaches, the Maldives is located in the south of Sri Lanka and is ideal for an adventure, honeymoon, or leisure holiday.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The Maldives is an equatorial nation of islands in the Indian Ocean. The country is made up of 1192 islands that span 871 kilometres. Only 298 square kilometres of the nation’s total area—roughly 90 000 square kilometres—is made up of dry land. The islands are organized into a double chain of 26 atolls.
Visitors are captivated by the nation’s distinctive topography. Reefs with colourful bands, little jewel-like islands rimmed with the softest, whitest sand, and the cleanest, shallowest waters one can imagine. There are about 200 inhabited islands, and only a few on each atolls are resorts. Other islands are used for industry and agriculture.
The Maldives are not just beautiful above the ocean. Five per cent of the world’s reefs, which both soft and hard corals form, are found in the Maldives, where they appear with an explosion of colour. A thousand different types of fish call the reefs home. Large pelagic fishes like manta rays and whale sharks also make the Maldives their home, drawn by the abundant nutrients that flow in with the currents.

 

The Environment

The Maldives have one of the world’s most sensitive habitats. The island’s base is made of coral reefs. The country’s economy strongly depends on the health of its reefs and ecosystems, and they protect the small islands as part of their natural defence system.

The Maldives’ priceless marine ecosystem is being protected through several conservation initiatives. Although a few marine and bird species are legally protected, protected areas have been set aside to ensure the preservation of particular ecosystems and the nation’s rich biodiversity. This comprises the protection of maritime regions, the identification of biosphere reserves that cover coral reefs, islands, seagrass beds, and mangroves, and designated nature reserves in islands of different atolls to preserve wetlands and mangroves.
Additionally, several resorts run their programs. While some of the resorts’ initiatives concentrate on the rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles, others are doing cutting-edge studies on the regrowth of coral reefs. For schoolchildren and the general public, resorts also run several community education programs. Non-governmental organizations also play a significant role through their voluntary initiatives and ongoing beach and reef cleaning campaigns. Visitors visiting the Maldives are urged to carry back their non-biodegradable rubbish and use caution when snorkelling or scuba diving so as not to step on, touch, or destroy coral structures.

CONNECTIVITY

The Maldives have excellent communication with the outside world. The major entry point to the Maldives is Velana International Airport, which is served by numerous flights from Europe, the Middle East, and South East Asia. While multiple scheduled and charter flights transport passengers from all major European capitals and South East Asian locations, Colombo, Sri Lanka, different Indian towns, and Dubai are the origins of most of the international traffic. Thanks to the numerous daily flights, you can travel to any of the twelve local and international airports in the Maldives after arriving there. Scheduled ferry flights from Male also service most atolls’.
If you are going to a resort, your transfer was probably already planned when you reserved your lodging. Speedboats are used for transport to resorts near the airport, and seaplanes are used for transfers to resorts and islands farther away.

People

Although virtually little is known about the Maldives’ ancient past, researchers and historians think the country was populated more than 2500 years ago. The Indian subcontinent’s multiple waves of colonization and the thousands of years of interactions between people of various races and ethnicities that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean over several centuries led to the development of the Maldivian race. Due to its geographic location, the nation was a melting pot of people and cultures, as seen by its culture and traditions as well as the different physical characteristics of its citizens. The Dhivehi language of the Maldives is an Indo-Aryan tongue with Sanskrit as its mother tongue.
There were 407,660 persons counted in the population as of the most recent census in 2014. Male is home to one-third of the population, with the remaining 200 islands located around the remainder of the nation. Maldivians have historically relied on the seas for their livelihood, with fishing serving as the primary food supply. The main source of income for the Maldivian economy nowadays is tourism, despite the fact that fishery still makes a considerable contribution to the economy in terms of jobs and income.

 

Culture

Travel Information

TIME:5 hours earlier than GMT

INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE CODE: +96

ELECTRICITY:240 volts

TELEPHONE SERVICES: Two mobile service providers offer prepaid SIM cards at the airport. The SIM cards can be used for data and calls both locally and internationally.

CURRENCY: The native currency is called the Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR). The nation accepts all major credit cards.

VISA: All nations are granted a 30-day visa upon arrival as long as they have a current passport, a round-trip ticket, a reservation at a tourist facility, and sufficient finances to cover their stay.

TAXES: All goods and services at tourist businesses are subject to a 12% tourism goods and services tax (TGST). Green taxes are Except for guest houses, where the Green Tax is US$ 3.00 per person per day, guests staying in tourist accommodations are required to pay the Green Tax of US$ 6.00 per person per day.

TRANSFER AND TRAVEL:  To get to resorts close to the international airport, speedboat transfers are typical. Domestic flights or seaplanes can handle the remainder. From the airport, you can take a cab if you’re going to Male. The 12 domestic and foreign airports in the nation are serviced by a number of daily flights from Velana International Airport. There are also scheduled ferries from Male to many of the atolls.

ALCOHOL: Individuals are not allowed to import alcohol. Alcohol is, however, offered at each resort.

WEATHER: Tropical weather is scorching all year long. The average high and low temperatures are 31.5 and 26.4 degrees Celsius, respectively. Rain falls during the Southwest monsoon from May to October, but it is typically sunny during the Northeast monsoon from November to April.

CLOTHING: Clothing made of cotton works well in the Maldives’ humid, hot climate. When visiting or staying on inhabited islands, visitors are required to observe local customs and dress modestly. Sandals are best because you might wish to take them off frequently and go barefoot.

MEDICAL SERVICES: Male’ is home to the private hospitals ADK and Treetop as well as the primary public hospital Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). Most resorts have their own clinics and in-house medical facilities, and each atoll has at least one hospital.