REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES Official name: Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa / Republic of Maldives Location: Indian Ocean International organisations: The Commonwealth of Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: None Coastline: Indian Ocean Land area: 300 Km2 Population: 340,000 Ethnicity: The people of the Maldives are a mixture of South Indians, Sri Lankan Singhalese and Arabs. Languages: English is the official languages. The people speak Maldivian Dhivehi, a dialect of Singhalese. Religion: Almost the entire population are Sunni Muslims. Form of government: Presidential republic Capital: Male Constitution: The Constitution of the Maldives came into effect in January 1998. Head of state: The President, nominated by the legislature for a five-year term. The nomination must be ratified by a national referendum. Head of government: The President, who appoints all ministers.

Legislature: The Maldives has a unicameral legislature, the Council (Majlis), which has 50 members of whom 42 are elected for five-year terms and eight are appointed by the President.
Electoral authority: None
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 5

Political history

The Maldives were originally settled by Sinhalese from Sri Lanka, but were converted to Islam by the Arabs and became an independent Sultante in the 12th century. The islands were seized by the Portuguese in the 16th century but soon recovered their independence. The Dutch also tried to establish control but were repulsed. In the 19th century the influence of Britian India became paramount and in 1887 the islands became a British protectorate. In 1953 self-government was granted and the Sultante was abolished, but was reinstated the following year. The Maldives became fully independent in July 1965. The Sultanate was finally overthrown in 1968 and a republic established. Since 1978 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been President and has ruled with little opposition. In 2003 Gayoom was re-elected with 90% of the vote.

The Maldivian Democratic Party seems to be based mainly outside the country. In a recent statement the party said: "The international community needs to understand and fully appreciate his gameplan. While he talks about reform he is systematically undermining any and all resistance to his repressive rule. He is also about to take total control of the constituent assembly and the parliament. With elections round the corner, the international community needs to take firm and decisive steps to counter Gayoom’s illegal maneuvering and blatant abuse of political detainees. An indecisive or complacent approach on the part of the international community would guarantee that Gayoom would consolidate his illiberal, undemocratic and autocratic rule over the people of the Maldives. The future of democracy in Maldives could be decided in the coming weeks."