CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Maldives - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z1nR0ukep8oM8QOZZeJAyAAAAI4","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Maldives","wgTitle":"Maldives","wgCurRevisionId":2652409,"wgRevisionId":2652409,"wgArticleId":174986,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Asian countries","Global warming","Environmentalism","South Asian countries"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Maldives","wgRelevantArticleId":174986,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[], "wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","mediawiki.page.gallery.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.page.gallery.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="The Republic of the Maldives is a tiny island nation located in the Indian Ocean south of the Indian subcontinent. Malé is the capital and the most populated city, and it's where the Maldives' monarchs historically ruled it. An isolated nation spread across dozens of islands, the Maldives is one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, the people of the Maldives are critically threatened by climate change and rising sea levels.&#91;2&#93;"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Maldives"/> <meta property="og:description" content="The Republic of the Maldives is a tiny island nation located in the Indian Ocean south of the Indian subcontinent. Malé is the capital and the most populated city, and it's where the Maldives' monarchs historically ruled it. An isolated nation spread across dozens of islands, the Maldives is one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, the people of the Maldives are critically threatened by climate change and rising sea levels.&#91;2&#93;"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Maldives"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Maldives rootpage-Maldives skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><table class="messagebox mb-brainwatermark-light mb-info" style=""> <tbody><tr> <td class="mb-image"><a href="/wiki/File:Information_icon.svg" class="image"><img alt="Information icon.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/50px-Information_icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="50" srcset="/w/images/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/75px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/100px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="620" data-file-height="620" /></a> </td> <td class="mb-text"><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Moderator_elections/Results" title="RationalWiki:Moderator elections/Results">Results</a></b> for the <b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Moderator_elections" title="RationalWiki:Moderator elections">2024 RationalWiki Moderator Election</a></b> have now been posted. Thank you for participating in this election, and congratulations to the winners! </td></tr></tbody></table></div></div> <div class="mw-indicators mw-body-content"> </div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading" lang="en">Maldives</h1> <div id="bodyContent" class="mw-body-content"> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From RationalWiki</div> <div id="contentSub"></div> <div id="contentSub2"></div> <div id="jump-to-nav"></div> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#mw-head">Jump to navigation</a> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#searchInput">Jump to search</a> <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:197px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Maldives_-_Location_Map_(2013)_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg/195px-Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="195" height="195" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg/293px-Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg/390px-Maldives_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="250" data-file-height="250" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Maldives_-_Location_Map_(2013)_-_MDV_-_UNOCHA.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Map of the Maldives.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The Maldives are made up of 1200 islands, of which 200 are inhabited. Our geography is our main challenge. We are also often exposed to natural disasters, like the cyclone that recently hit Vanuatu. A tsunami, like the one that occurred in 2004, takes a few minutes to destroy everything; we spent ten years rebuilding.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Abdullahi Majeed, the Maldives’ Minister of State for Environment & Energy.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="navbox" style="float: right; clear:right; border: 2px solid silver; margin: 0 0 .5em .5em; width: 200px;"> <div style="background-color: #e7ece6; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; padding: .3em;"><b>Maldives</b> <b></b></div> <center><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_Maldives.svg" class="image"><img alt="Flag of Maldives.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Flag_of_Maldives.svg/195px-Flag_of_Maldives.svg.png" decoding="async" width="195" height="130" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Flag_of_Maldives.svg/293px-Flag_of_Maldives.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Flag_of_Maldives.svg/390px-Flag_of_Maldives.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="720" data-file-height="480" /></a></center> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Demographics</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by population" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by population">Population</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>345,000 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal)">GDP (million)</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>2,300 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita">GDP p/cap.</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>6665 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by life expectancy" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by life expectancy">Life expectancy</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>77.5 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by Human Development Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by Human Development Index">Development Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.698 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Government</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Democracy Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Democracy Index">Democracy Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>N/A </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Corruption Perceptions Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Corruption Perceptions Index">Corruption Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>4.3 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>More</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Education Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Education Index">Education Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="Wikipedia" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.548 </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> </div> <p>The <b>Republic of the Maldives</b> is a tiny island nation located in the Indian Ocean south of the Indian subcontinent. Malé is the capital and the most populated city, and it's where the Maldives' monarchs historically ruled it. An isolated nation spread across dozens of islands, the Maldives is one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, the people of the Maldives are critically threatened by <a href="/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a> and rising sea levels.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>The Maldives first consolidated into a sultanate in the 12th century, when <a href="/wiki/Islam" title="Islam">Islam</a> reached the archipelago through trade. The region came under increasing European influence, culminating in the island state becoming a protectorate of the <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> in 1887. After spending decades as a low-importance British possession, the Maldives gained independence in 1965. After that, its main challenge was to build its economic and infrastructural base as an isolated nation to prevent itself from being destroyed by an increasingly hostile natural environment. The Maldives also evolved into a <a href="/wiki/Republic" title="Republic">republic</a>, but it still has human rights and corruption problems. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Historical_overview"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Historical overview</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Early_history"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Early history</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#European_influence"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">European influence</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#British_protectorate"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">British protectorate</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#Environmental_problems"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Environmental problems</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Climate_change_and_rising_seas"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Climate change and rising seas</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Coral_bleaching"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Coral bleaching</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Gallery"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Gallery</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Historical_overview">Historical overview</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Historical overview">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_history">Early history</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early history">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Archaeological evidence indicates that the Maldives was historically a fairly important trade hub between <a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>, <a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a>, and the Indian subcontinent. Maldivians consider the introduction of Islam in 1153 CE as the true beginning of their nation's history, and that point saw the Maldives begin to form its modern identity.<sup id="cite_ref-his_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-his-3">[3]</a></sup> Islam probably arrived in the Maldives through trade with Muslim powers in East Africa, as the Swahili region had important trade links with India.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> </p><p>Maldivian legend holds that Abu Al Barakat, a North African Arab, drove away the old demonic Maldivian deities by reading the <a href="/wiki/Quran" class="mw-redirect" title="Quran">Quran</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-lp_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lp-5">[5]</a></sup> The Maldivian king was sold on this new religion and ordered his court and subjects to convert. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg/275px-Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="201" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg/413px-Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg/550px-Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1855" data-file-height="1354" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Codice_Casanatense_Maldivans.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Portuguese depiction of native Maldivians, 1540.</div></div></div> <p>The Bengal Sultanate, which occupied the territory that is now <a href="/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a>, was one of the Maldives' most important trading partners since the Maldives produced cowrie shells that Bengal used as currency.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> The Maldives also produced coconut fiber, called coir, historically important in making ropes.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> Sure, that's boring as fuck, but it was important, and it did put the Maldives on the map. </p><p>Of course, you couldn't end up as a notable place in southern Asia without attracting the attention of European colonizers... </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="European_influence">European influence</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: European influence">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>In the 1500s, <a href="/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portugal</a> expanded its trade empire throughout the <a href="/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a> and India. The Portuguese first got permission to build an outpost in Malé, but they soon got more avaricious. In 1558, a Portuguese captain led an expedition to conquer the Maldives, killing Sultan Ali VI and annexing the Maldives as a Portuguese possession.<sup id="cite_ref-lp_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lp-5">[5]</a></sup> The Portuguese were apparently quite vicious during their occupation, attempting to threaten the Maldivians with <a href="/wiki/Death" title="Death">death</a> to get them to convert to <a href="/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>. The Maldivians weren't gonna have that shit, so they drove the Portuguese out not too long after. </p><p>The Portuguese and the Dutch would show up every now and then to attack the Maldives. The Maldives' sultans managed to keep themselves independent by striking agreements with other European powers.<sup id="cite_ref-lp_5-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lp-5">[5]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="British_protectorate">British protectorate</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: British protectorate">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:287px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East,_1941-1945_CF620.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg/285px-Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg" decoding="async" width="285" height="194" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg/428px-Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg/570px-Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East%2C_1941-1945_CF620.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="544" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Far_East,_1941-1945_CF620.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>British seaplane in the Maldives during WWII.</div></div></div> <p>The British showed up in 1835, apparently interested in charting the seas around their recently acquired Indian empire. The Maldivians were nervous about allowing the British to survey their islands, mainly because the dangerous reefs around those islands had been one of their most important lines of defense against European naval invasions.<sup id="cite_ref-bemp_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bemp-8">[8]</a></sup> The British, though, eventually went ahead and did it anyway. </p><p>Over time, British merchants poured into the Maldives from trade ports in India, hoping to control the flow of goods through the Maldives.<sup id="cite_ref-lp_5-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lp-5">[5]</a></sup> It didn't take long for them to monopolize this trade and leverage that monopoly into political influence. In 1887, the sultan of the Maldives signed an agreement with the British making the arrangement official and confirming the Maldives as a British protectorate. </p><p>The Maldives proved to be just a bit too unimportant as a colony to see large-scale British settlement; it mainly served as a base for trade. The British did care enough to impose a constitution on the Maldives in 1932 to make official some democratic limits on the sultans' powers. Later on, the Maldives suffered greatly during <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> because the Japanese invasion of India meant that its trade was cut off from the subcontinent. This caused rice shortages and starvation.<sup id="cite_ref-lp_5-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lp-5">[5]</a></sup> </p><p>After the war, the Maldives slowly became more autonomous from the British, culminating in abolishing the monarchy and the Maldives' independence from the British. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Environmental_problems">Environmental problems</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Environmental problems">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg/250px-2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="188" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg/375px-2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="300" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_Maldives_tsunami_wave.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Threatening waves near the Maldives' capital.</div></div></div> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Climate_change_and_rising_seas">Climate change and rising seas</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Climate change and rising seas">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The Maldives stands at the frontline of the climate change battle.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President of the Maldives.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Climate change presents an existential threat to the Maldives. In recent years, the Maldives' diplomats have been almost exclusively focused on begging the international community and the <a href="/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> for money to help them protect their islands from rising sea levels.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> The people of the Maldives are already highly vulnerable to storms and surges, and rising sea levels will eventually start swallowing up their islands. </p><p>In 2004, the Maldives got colossally fucked by a tsunami that killed 16 people and completely wiped out multiple Maldivian islands.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> The Maldives' first idea was to find some land somewhere to buy and relocate. When that unsurprisingly didn't pan out, the Maldives switched to fortifying their existing islands and trying to build artificial islands that sit higher in the sea.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> </p><p>Combating sea level rise is urgent for the Maldives. Harsher storms and an increasing freshwater scarcity are conditions that would be exacerbated by rising seas.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Most of the Maldives' housing and vital infrastructure are clustered around its coastlines. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Coral_bleaching">Coral bleaching</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Coral bleaching">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/f/fd/Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg/250px-Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg" decoding="async" width="250" height="188" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/fd/Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg/375px-Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/fd/Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg/500px-Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="862" data-file-height="647" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Maldives_coral_bleaching.jpeg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Bleached coral in the Maldives.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Before 1998, we never thought that this reef would die. We had always taken for granted that these animals would be there, that this reef would be there forever. El Niño gave us a wake-up call that these things are not going to be there forever. Not only this, they also act as a natural barrier against the tropical storms, floods and tsunamis. Seaweeds grow on the skeletons of dead coral.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Azeez Hakim, Maldivian marine biologist.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Rising temperatures in the oceans also kill off corals, resulting in them becoming ghastly white and unable to support life. The Maldives got its wake-up call when the 1998 El Niño season killed about 60% of the Maldives' coral reefs.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> Since then, the Maldives and the world have proved themselves unable to prevent disaster. In 2014, severe coral bleaching set in, impacting between 60% and 90% of the Maldives' reefs, depending on the area.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> This has become the longest coral bleaching event in known history, and recent studies indicate that the Maldives' reefs might be entirely destroyed by the 2030s.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> </p><p>The scary thing is that reefs that bleach often don't come back, meaning that reef ecosystems are destroyed, and the people who rely on those ecosystems for food are imperiled.<sup id="cite_ref-blea_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-blea-18">[18]</a></sup> Since the Maldives relies heavily on fishing, this could cause urgent food insecurity. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Gallery">Gallery</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Gallery">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Male-total.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Male-total.jpg/225px-Male-total.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Male-total.jpg/338px-Male-total.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Male-total.jpg/450px-Male-total.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3072" data-file-height="2048" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Malé, the capital of the Maldives. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg/225px-Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg/338px-Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg/450px-Maldivian_dish_-_Kandu_Kulkulhu_11.jpg 2x" data-file-width="7952" data-file-height="5304" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Maldivian tuna and rice meal. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:43px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Filitheyo_bar.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Filitheyo_bar.jpg/225px-Filitheyo_bar.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="169" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Filitheyo_bar.jpg/338px-Filitheyo_bar.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Filitheyo_bar.jpg/450px-Filitheyo_bar.jpg 2x" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="480" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Maldivian lagoon beach. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:53px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG/225px-Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG" decoding="async" width="225" height="149" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG/338px-Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG/450px-Maahefun_Fuvahmulah.JPG 2x" data-file-width="3216" data-file-height="2136" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Maldivian family and friends on the beach. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:53px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg/225px-MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="149" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg/338px-MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg/450px-MV-freitagsmoschee.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4928" data-file-height="3264" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The Friday Mosque in Malé. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Global_warming" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming">Global warming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol" title="Kyoto Protocol">Kyoto Protocol</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmentalism" title="Environmentalism">Environmentalism</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maldives">Maldives</a>. <i>Wikiquote.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/nov/11/climatechange-endangered-habitats-maldives">The last days of paradise</a>. <i>The Guardian.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-his-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-his_3-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/maldives/1.htm">Maldives History</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Battutah, Ibn (2002). <i>The Travels of Ibn Battutah.</i> London: Picador. pp. 235–236, 320. ISBN 9780330418799.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-lp-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-lp_5-0">5.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-lp_5-1">5.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-lp_5-2">5.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-lp_5-3">5.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-lp_5-4">5.4</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maldives/history">History of the Maldives</a>. <i>Lonely Planet.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Boomgaard, P. (1 January 2008). Linking Destinies: Trade, Towns and Kin in Asian History. BRILL. ISBN 9789004253995 </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.themaldivesexpert.com/1910/the-art-of-coir-rope-making/">The Art of Coir Rope Making</a>. <i>The Maldives Expert.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-bemp-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-bemp_8-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/maldives.htm">Maldives</a>. <i>British Empire.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2010/04/06/climate-change-in-the-maldives">Climate Change in the Maldives</a>. <i>The World Bank.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-maldives/we-cant-wait-maldives-desperate-for-funds-as-islands-risk-going-under-idUSKBN1ZG0XS">'We can't wait': Maldives desperate for funds as islands risk going under</a>. <i>Reuters.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/presscenter/articles/2018/01/26/devastated-by-the-2004-tsunami-the-island-in-the-maldives-welcomes-a-tsunami-drill.html">Devastated by the 2004 Tsunami, the Island in the Maldives Welcomes a Tsunami Drill</a>. UNDP Asia Pacific.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2125198-on-front-line-of-climate-change-as-maldives-fights-rising-seas/">On front line of climate change as Maldives fights rising seas</a>. <i>New Scientist.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-locations/republic-of-maldives.html">Republic of Maldives</a>. <i>Union of Concerned Scientists.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives" class="extiw" title="wp:Maldives" rel="nofollow">Maldives</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130921010958/http://www.globalcoral.org/Maldives%20Nurses%20Its%20Coral%20Reefs%20Back%20to%20Life.htm">Maldives Nurses Its Coral Reefs Back to Life</a>. <i>Global Coral Reef Alliance</i>. Archived.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/28/world/maldives-coral-bleaching/index.html">Can the Maldives save its coral reefs?</a> <i>CNN.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/01/coral-bleaching-spreads-to-maldives-devastating-spectacular-reefs">Coral bleaching spreads to Maldives, devastating spectacular reefs</a>. <i>The Guardian.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-blea-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-blea_18-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how-we-can-stop-it">Everything You Need to Know about Coral Bleaching—And How We Can Stop It</a>. <i>World Wildlife Fund.</i></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox" class="toccolours" style="clear:both; margin:0.5em 3.5%; text-align:center;"> <div style="margin:0.15em; padding:0.1em; background:#ccccff; font-weight:bold;"><span id="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox"><a href="/wiki/Nation" title="Nation">Nations</a> of the world</span> </div> <div class="hlist" style="font-size: 90%; margin: 0.15em 1.425em;"><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa"><b>Africa</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Algeria" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo" title="Democratic Republic of the Congo">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Eritrea" title="Eritrea">Eritrea</a> — <a href="/wiki/ESwatini" title="ESwatini">eSwatini</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ethiopia" title="Ethiopia">Ethiopia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Guinea" title="Guinea">Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kenya" title="Kenya">Kenya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Liberia" title="Liberia">Liberia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Libya" title="Libya">Libya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mali" title="Mali">Mali</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nigeria" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somalia" title="Somalia">Somalia</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sudan" title="Sudan">Sudan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Togo" title="Togo">Togo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uganda" title="Uganda">Uganda</a> — <a href="/wiki/Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a> <p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Asia" title="Asia"><b>Asia</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Armenia" title="Armenia">Armenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Azerbaijan" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bahrain" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brunei" title="Brunei">Brunei</a> — <a href="/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> — <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Georgia_(country)" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a> — <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a> — <a href="/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> — <a href="/wiki/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> — <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jordan" title="Jordan">Jordan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kazakhstan" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kuwait" title="Kuwait">Kuwait</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kyrgyzstan" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lebanon" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a> — <a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> — <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Maldives</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mongolia" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Korea" title="North Korea">North Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Oman" title="Oman">Oman</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Palestine" title="Palestine">Palestine</a> — <a href="/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> — <a href="/wiki/Qatar" title="Qatar">Qatar</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Saudi_Arabia" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Korea" title="South Korea">South Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tajikistan" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Timor-Leste" title="Timor-Leste">Timor-Leste</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkmenistan" title="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates" title="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uzbekistan" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> — <a href="/wiki/Yemen" title="Yemen">Yemen</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe"><b>Europe</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Albania" title="Albania">Albania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Austria" title="Austria">Austria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belarus" title="Belarus">Belarus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bulgaria" title="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Channel_Islands" title="Channel Islands">Channel Islands</a> — <a href="/wiki/Croatia" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Czechia" title="Czechia">Czechia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> — <a href="/wiki/Estonia" title="Estonia">Estonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Finland" title="Finland">Finland</a> — <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> — <a href="/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greece" title="Greece">Greece</a> — <a href="/wiki/Hungary" title="Hungary">Hungary</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Isle_of_Man" title="Isle of Man">Isle of Man</a> — <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> — <a href="/wiki/Latvia" title="Latvia">Latvia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lithuania" title="Lithuania">Lithuania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Moldova" title="Moldova">Moldova</a> — <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Macedonia" title="North Macedonia">North Macedonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a> — <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portugal</a> — <a href="/wiki/Romania" title="Romania">Romania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Serbia" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Slovenia" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> — <a href="/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> (<a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>, <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/North_America" title="North America"><b>North America</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica">Costa Rica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba">Cuba</a> — <a href="/wiki/El_Salvador" title="El Salvador">El Salvador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Grenada" title="Grenada">Grenada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Haiti" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jamaica" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> — <a href="/wiki/Panama" title="Panama">Panama</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> (<a href="/wiki/Puerto_Rico" class="mw-redirect" title="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rico</a>) <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania"><b>Oceania</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kiribati" title="Kiribati">Kiribati</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nauru" title="Nauru">Nauru</a> — <a href="/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea" title="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands" title="Pitcairn Islands">Pitcairn Islands</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/South_America" title="South America"><b>South America</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina">Argentina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brazil" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> — <a href="/wiki/Chile" title="Chile">Chile</a> (<a href="/wiki/Rapa_Nui" title="Rapa Nui">Rapa Nui</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Colombia" title="Colombia">Colombia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</a> (<a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands"><small>Malvinas</small></a>)— <a href="/wiki/Paraguay" title="Paraguay">Paraguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Peru" title="Peru">Peru</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay">Uruguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><b>Separatist or disputed</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Abkhazia" title="Abkhazia">Abkhazia</a> —<a href="/wiki/Catalonia" title="Catalonia">Catalonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kashmir" title="Kashmir">Kashmir</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kosovo" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kurdistan" title="Kurdistan">Kurdistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Micronation" title="Micronation">Micronation</a> — <a href="/wiki/Northern_Cyprus" title="Northern Cyprus">Northern Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sealand" class="mw-redirect" title="Sealand">Sealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somaliland" title="Somaliland">Somaliland</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Ossetia" title="South Ossetia">South Ossetia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tibet" title="Tibet">Tibet</a> — <a href="/wiki/Transnistria" title="Transnistria">Transnistria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Western_Sahara" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a> </p> <span style="float:left;"><big><b>Historical</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgian_Congo" title="Belgian Congo">Belgian Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> — <a href="/wiki/East_Germany" title="East Germany">East Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/French_colonial_empire" title="French colonial empire">French colonial empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/German_Empire" title="German Empire">German Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Imperial_China" title="Imperial China">Imperial China</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Hawai%CA%BBi" title="Kingdom of Hawaiʻi">Kingdom of Hawaiʻi</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/Rhodesia" title="Rhodesia">Rhodesia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> — <a href="/wiki/Vichy_France" title="Vichy France">Vichy France</a> — <a href="/wiki/Yugoslavia" title="Yugoslavia">Yugoslavia</a></div> </div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Maldives&oldid=2652409">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Maldives&oldid=2652409</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Asian_countries" title="Category:Asian countries">Asian countries</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Global_warming" title="Category:Global warming">Global warming</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Environmentalism" title="Category:Environmentalism">Environmentalism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:South_Asian_countries" title="Category:South Asian countries">South Asian countries</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-navigation"> <h2>Navigation menu</h2> <div id="mw-head">  <nav id="p-personal" class="vector-menu" aria-labelledby="p-personal-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-personal-label"> <span>Personal tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="pt-anonuserpage">Not logged in</li><li id="pt-anontalk"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n">Talk</a></li><li id="pt-anoncontribs"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y">Contributions</a></li><li id="pt-createaccount"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Maldives" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory">Create account</a></li><li id="pt-login"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Maldives" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o">Log in</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="left-navigation">  <nav id="p-namespaces" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-namespaces-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-namespaces-label"> <span>Namespaces</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected"><a href="/wiki/Maldives" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="new"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Talk:Maldives&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page (page does not exist) [t]" accesskey="t">Talk</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-variants" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" /> <h3 id="p-variants-label"> <span>Variants</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation">  <nav id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-views-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-views-label"> <span>Views</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-view" class="collapsible selected"><a href="/wiki/Maldives">Read</a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e">Edit</a></li><li id="ca-history" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h">Fossil record</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" /> <h3 id="p-cactions-label"> <span>More</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="p-search" role="search"> <h3 > <label for="searchInput">Search</label> </h3> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform"> <div id="simpleSearch"> <input type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search RationalWiki" title="Search RationalWiki [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput"/> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> <input type="submit" name="fulltext" value="Search" title="Search the pages for this text" id="mw-searchButton" class="searchButton mw-fallbackSearchButton"/> <input type="submit" name="go" value="Go" title="Go to a page with this exact name if it exists" id="searchButton" class="searchButton"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-panel"> <div id="p-logo" role="banner"> <a title="Visit the main page" class="mw-wiki-logo" href="/wiki/Main_Page"></a> </div>  <nav id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal portal-first" aria-labelledby="p-navigation-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-navigation-label"> <span>Navigation</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-mainpage-description"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z">Main page</a></li><li id="n-recentchanges"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r">Recent changes</a></li><li id="n-randompage"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random mainspace article [x]" accesskey="x">Random page</a></li><li id="n-New-pages"><a href="/wiki/Special:NewPages">New pages</a></li><li id="n-All-logs"><a href="/wiki/Special:Log">All logs</a></li><li id="n-help"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="RTFM">Help</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-support" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-support-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-support-label"> <span>Support</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Donate"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Site_support">Donate</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-community" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-community-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-community-label"> <span>Community</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Saloon-bar"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Saloon_bar">Saloon bar</a></li><li id="n-To-do-list"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:To_do_list">To do list</a></li><li id="n-What-is-going-on.3F"><a href="/wiki/WIGO">What is going on?</a></li><li id="n-Best-of-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Contents">Best of RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-About-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki">About RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-Technical-support"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support">Technical support</a></li><li id="n-Mod-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:All_things_in_moderation">Mod noticeboard</a></li><li id="n-RMF-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:RationalMedia_Foundation">RMF noticeboard</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-Social media" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-Social media-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-Social media-label"> <span>Social media</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/RationalWiki" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></li><li id="n-Facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rationalwiki/226614404019306" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></li><li id="n-Discord"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Discord">Discord</a></li><li id="n-Reddit"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Reddit">Reddit</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-tb" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-tb-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-tb-label"> <span>Tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="t-whatlinkshere"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Maldives" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j">What links here</a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Maldives" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k">Related changes</a></li><li id="t-specialpages"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q">Special pages</a></li><li id="t-print"><a href="javascript:print();" rel="alternate" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p">Printable version</a></li><li id="t-permalink"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&oldid=2652409" title="Permanent link to this revision of the page">Permanent link</a></li><li id="t-info"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Maldives&action=info" title="More information about this page">Page information</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" role="contentinfo" > <ul id="footer-info" > <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 27 May 2024, at 15:23.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Unless explicitly noted otherwise, all content licensed as indicated by <a name="Copyright" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights">RationalWiki:Copyrights</a>. <br> For concerns on copyright infringement please see: <a name="Copyright infringement" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyright_violations">RationalWiki:Copyright violations</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places" > <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Privacy_policy" title="RationalWiki:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:About" class="mw-redirect" title="RationalWiki:About">About RationalWiki</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimer"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:General_disclaimer" title="RationalWiki:General disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"><img src="/w/88x31.png" alt="CC-BY-SA 3.0, or any later version" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both;"></div> </footer> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"1.532","walltime":"4.319","ppvisitednodes":{"value":888,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":19897,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":6231,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":8,"limit":40},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":100},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":11943,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 2122.741 1 -total"," 0.58% 12.343 1 Template:Reflist"," 0.29% 6.082 1 Template:Countrybox"," 0.26% 5.571 1 Template:Nationbox"," 0.25% 5.212 3 Template:Cquote"," 0.16% 3.323 8 Template:Wpl"," 0.13% 2.725 1 Template:Wpa"," 0.13% 2.690 1 Template:NavigationBox"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"apache5","timestamp":"20241211125814","ttl":86400,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":58,"wgHostname":"apache5"});});</script></body></html>