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 In ancient times the Maldives were renowned for cowry shells, coir rope, dried tuna fish (Maldive Fish), ambergris (Maavaharu) and coco de mer (Tavakkaashi). Local and foreign trading ships used to load these products in Sri Lanka and transport them to other harbors in the Indian Ocean. From the 2nd century AD the islands were known as the 'Money Isles' by the Arabs who dominated the Indian Ocean trade routes[citation needed]
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 The Maldivian ethnic identity is a blend of the cultures reflecting the peoples who settled on the islands, reinforced by religion and language. The earliest settlers were probably from southern India and Sri Lanka. They are linguistically and ethnically related to the Indo-Aryan people in the Indian subcontinent They are ethnically known as Mahls (locally as Dhivehis). |
 The Maldives has 7 provinces each consisting of the following administrative divisions (the capital Mal? is its own administrative division).... |
 Politics in the Maldives takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the cabinet which is approved by the Parliament. The President is nominated to a five-year term by a secret ballot of the Majlis (parliament), a nomination which is confirmed by national referendum. The unicameral Majlis of the Maldives is composed of fifty members serving five-year terms. Two members from each atoll are directly elected. Eight are appointed by the president, which is the main route through which women enter parliament. |
 Violent protests in 2004 and 2005 led to a series of reforms by President Gayoom to legalize political parties and improve the democratic process. Multi-party, multi-candidate elections were held on 9 October 2008, with 5 candidates running against incumbent Gayoom. A 28 October runoff election between Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed as the Presidential Candidate, a former journalist and political prisoner who is a staunch critic of the Gayoom regime, resulted in a 54-percent majority for Nasheed and his vice-president candidate Dr. Waheed. In a speech prior to handing over power to his successor on 11 November 2008, Gayoom said: "I deeply regret any actions on my part ... (that) led to unfair treatment, difficulty or injustice for any Maldivian." At the time, Gayoom was the longest serving leader of any Asian nation. |
 On 26 December 2004, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Maldives were devastated by a tsunami. Only nine islands were reported to have escaped any flooding, while fifty-seven islands faced serious damage to critical infrastructure, fourteen islands had to be totally evacuated, and six islands were decimated. |
 Maldives waters are home to wide variety of ecosystems, but are most noted for their variety of colorful coral reefs, home to 300 species of fish. Seven species have been described as new to science, several more await description. Over 400 have been identified and catalogued and many are now held in the reference collection, including 5 species of turtles, 51 species of echinoderms, 5 species of sea grasses and 285 species of alga & sponges, crustaceans, and tunicates (Hoon, Chong, Roy, Bierhuizen, & Kanvinde, 1997).
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At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to meet his subjects. Despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering from the public view, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. Disturbed by this, when told that all people would eventually grow old by his charioteer Channa, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic...
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The Maldives has been growing in popularity as a scuba diving destination ever since the 1970s when the number of resorts began to increase and people began discovering the Maldives as a holiday destination. Nowadays, the Maldives is firmly on the map as one of the world's most finest scuba diving destinations, together with Australia, Belize, Egypt, Indonesia and Thailand, to name a few.
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