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Maldives comprises some 1,900 islands in the Indian Ocean. The earliest settlers were probably the Dravidian from the shores of southern India and Sri Lanka. Originally Buddhists, Maldivians were converted to Sunni Islam in the mid-12th century. Islam is the official religion of the entire population.

Formerly there was a caste division in Maldives, the lowest caste in the hierarchy being the rāveri or palm-sap tappers. But caste divisions in Maldives were never as prevalent as in the neighboring countries. Instead of a complex caste system, like the Vedic one, in Maldives greater importance was attached to mark the division between the nobles (bēfulhun) and the common people in society. Presently all traditional distinctions have disappeared and there are no marriage barriers in the Maldive sociological pattern.

The preferred marriage for Maldivians is endogamous, although exogamous marriages were not uncommon. For a girl the best husband would be deemed to be her mother’s brother’s son and for a boy his mother’s brother’s daughter. Girls used to marry right after the menarche ceremony. Residence is generally uxorilocal. According to Island tradition the husband would go to live to his wife’s house after marriage. For this reason, in Divehi families, parents were happy to have daughters because they would bring boys into their home, whereas sons would ‘bring fish to someone else’s house’, meaning that even during courtship, their interests would already be in the household of their forthcoming wife.

In the Maldives funerary rituals played a very significant part in the society. Divehi people always carefully buried their deceased ones. The location and arrangement of the burial place was a matter that was given great consideration by islanders high or low. Burial grounds and isolated tombs (ziyaaraiy) were the most important landmarks in every island village. Therefore, most traditional celebrations involving cooking and feasting and important social gatherings were associated with funerary ceremonies.

The Maldives has one of the highest birth rates in the world. The result is that many islands have become overpopulated and are completely covered by homesteads. Hence the country is becoming less self-sufficient by the day.

Demographics of the Maldives, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

• H.C.P. Bell, The Maldive Islands, An account of the physical features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade. Colombo 1883, ISBN 81 206 1222 1
• Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84 7254 801 5

Population: 301,475 (July 2000 est.) - 369,031 (July 2007 est.) [1]

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (male 71,273; female 67,323) (2000 est.) - 42.9% (male 81,383/female 76,984) (2007 est.)
15-64 years: 51% (male 78,598; female 75,331) (2000 est.) - 54% (male 101,699/female 97,518) (2007 est.)
65 years and over: 3% (male 4,666; female 4,284) (2000 est.) - 3.1% (male 5,619/female 5,828) (2007 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.73% (2007 est.) [2]

Birth rate: 38.96 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) - 34.2 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 8.32 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) - 6.88 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.09 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 65.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) - 53.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.2 years (2000 est.) - 64.76 years (2007 est.)
male: 61.05 years (2000 est.) - 63.41 years (2007 est.)
female: 63.4 years (2000 est.) - 66.19 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.62 children born/woman (2000 est.) - 4.78 children born/woman (2007 est.) [3]

Nationality:
noun: Maldivian(s)
adjective: Maldivian

Ethnic groups: South Indians, Sinhalese, Arabs

Religions: Sunni Muslim

Languages: Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96.3%
male: 96.2%
female: 96.4% (2000 census)