Former president Mohamed Nasheed was tried andfound guilty of terrorism in March 2015. The chargeresulted from his alleged use of the military to arrest

a criminal court judge for corruption during Nasheed’sterm in office. A former pro-democracy activist and thecountry’s first democratically elected president, he wassentenced to 13 years in prison. In October the UNWorking Group on Arbitrary Detention released a reportstating that Nasheed had not received a fair trial. Theleaders of three opposition parties were among 200 peo-ple arrested in May in antigovernment protests in Male.

DemographyPopulation (2015): 344,5003.Density (2015)4: persons per sq mi7,358, persons per sq km 2,841.

Sex distribution (2014): male50.48%; female 49.52%.

Population projection3: (2020)373,000; (2030) 420,000.

Doubling time: 37 years.Religious affiliation: virtually 100%Sunni Muslim5.

Major localities (2014): Male2

133,019; Hithadhoo 9,894; Fuvammulah 8,055;Kulhudhuffushi 8,011; Villingili 7,304.

Urban-rural (2014):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2012): 22.5 (world avg. 19.5).Death rate per 1,000 population (2012): 3.4 (world avg. 8.1).Life expectancy at birth (2012): male 73.0 years; female 74.8years.

Age breakdown (2006):

Ethnic composition (2000)3:

Maldives

Official name: Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa(Republic of Maldives).

Form of government: multiparty republic1 withone legislative house (People’s Majlis [85]).

Head of state and government: President AbdullaYameen Abdul Gayoom.

Capital: Male2.Official language: Dhivehi (Maldivian).Official religion: Islam.Monetary unit: rufiyaa (Rf); valuation (Sept. 1,2015) 1 U.S.$ = Rf 15.27; 1 £ = Rf 23.40.

Area and populationarea6 population

2014Provinces7, 8 Administrative seat sq mi sq km census9

Upper North … 15.29 39.61 43,785North … 8.50 22.01 44,935North Central … 3.92 10.16 35,144Central … 2.15 5.56 14,811South Central … 6.88 17.83 20,633Upper South … 4.06 10.52 21,087South … 5.26 13.61 27,842

Capital islandMale2 Male2 0.76 1.97 133,019SUBTOTAL — 46.82 121.27 341,2563

REMAINDER10 — 68.24 176.73 —TOTAL — 115.06 298.00 341,2563

Former president Mohamed Nasheed waves as he isreturned to a detention centre on March 15. Human rightslawyer Amal Clooney met with Nasheed in September andbegan representing him in talks with the Maldivesgovernment.Mohamed Sharuhaan/AP Images

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National economyBudget (2012). Revenue: Rf 9,832,000,000 (tax revenue 68.3%, ofwhich tourism taxes 24.3%, import duties 13.8%; nontaxrevenue 26.8%, of which resort lease rent 11.1%; grants4.7%; other 0.2%). Expenditures: Rf 14,215,900,000 (cur-rent expenditure 74.0%, of which social welfare 19.4%,wages and salaries 17.8%, transportation and public utili-ties 7.1%; capital expenditure 26.0%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2013): U.S.$748,000,000.Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,

forestry, fishing (2012): bananas 7,500, coconuts (2013)4,200, papayas 1,100, areca nuts 10; roundwood (2013)15,882 cu m, of which fuelwood 100%; fisheries produc-tion 120,001, of which skipjack tuna 53,400, yellowfintuna 45,000 (from aquaculture, none). Mining and quar-rying: coral for construction materials. Manufacturing:details, n.a.; however, major industries have included boat build-ing and repairing, coir yarn and mat weaving, coconut and fishprocessing, lacquerwork, garment manufacturing, and handi-crafts. Energy production (consumption): electricity (kW-hr;2012) 287,000,000 (220,000,000), by source: fossil fuels 100%;petroleum products (metric tons; 2011) none (360,000).

Population economically active (2010): total 111,300; participationrates: ages 15–64, male 68.0%; female 38.2%; unemployed (2012)28.0%, of which youth (ages 15–24; 2010) 25.4%.

Average household size (2009–10): 6.215.Gross national income (GNI; 2014): U.S.$2,563,000,000 (U.S.$7,290

per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$12,770 percapita).

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops orleft fallow c. 10%, in permanent crops c. 10%, in pasture c. 3%,forest area c. 3%.

Foreign trade13, 14

Imports (2013): U.S.$1,733,400,000 (refined petrole-um products 29.0%, of which diesel fuel 17.1%;food and food products 21.9%; goods for construc-tion 7.9%; machinery and apparatus 5.2%). Major import sources:

Exports (2013): U.S.$331,000,000 (fish 48.7%, ofwhich fresh tuna 40.3%, canned or pouched fish5.0%; reexports [mostly jet fuel] 49.7%). Major export destinations16:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads: none. Roads (2013):

total length 55 mi, 88 km (paved 100%).Vehicles (201317): passenger cars 3,708;trucks and buses 4,277.

Education and healthLiteracy (2006): percentage of total populationage 15 and over literate 93.5%; males literate92.5%; females literate 94.5%.

Health: physicians (2010) 525 (1 per 609 per-sons); hospital beds (2009) 1,353 (1 per 232persons); infant mortality rate per 1,000 livebirths (2012) 8.9; undernourished population(2006–08) 30,500 (10% of total populationbased on the consumption of a minimum dailyrequirement of 1,800 calories).

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (2006):2,000-member paramilitaryincorporates coast guard duties.Paramilitary expenditure as per-centage of GDP (2008): 4.9%;per capita expenditure U.S.$139.

1New constitution ratified on Aug. 7, 2008; first multiparty election held in October 2008. 2Also spelled Maale or Male).3Excludes (in 2014) 58,863 legal foreign workers and (in 2011) c. 44,000 undocumented workers. Most foreign workers areIndian or Bangladeshi. 4Based on areas of inhabited islets only. 5The only non-Sunni are Shi(i members of the Indian trad-ing community and non-Muslim workers who serve alcohol on the resort islands. 6Area data by province for inhabitedislands only. 7Per administrative reorganization beginning in March 2009. 8Administratively ordered from uppermost northto lowermost south. 9Preliminary. 10Includes areas of uninhabited islands, 88 resort islands, and 34 industrial islands. 11Lessimputed bank service charges. 12Includes 18,605 unemployed. 13Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 14Exports include reexportsunless otherwise footnoted. 15Data taken from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009–10, comprising 2,060households in both Male and outer atolls. 16Domestic exports only. 17January 1. 18Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Department of National Planning www.planning.gov.mv/en• Maldives Monetary Authority www.mma.gov.mv

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2012 2006

in value % of total labour % of labourRf ’000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 1,365,000 4.0 12,624 9.8Mining and quarrying 339 0.3Manufacturing 2,300,000 6.7 19,259 14.9Public utilities 463,000 1.4 1,229 1.0Construction 4,549,000 13.3 5,930 4.6Transp. and commun. 4,813,000 14.1 7,098 5.5Trade 1,475,000 4.3 23,801 18.5Tourism (resorts) 8,564,000 25.1 … …Finance, real estate 4,353,000 12.8 1,738 1.3Pub. admin., defense 4,790,000 14.0 15,949 12.4Services 3,069,000 9.0 17,302 13.4Other –1,593,00011 –4.711 23,56712 18.312

TOTAL 34,148,000 100.0 128,836 100.0

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2014 66618 1,89418

Landline 2014 21 61

Internet users 2009 88 284Broadband 2014 2018 5618

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