The Republic of the Maldives (formerly known as the Maldiva Islands) is a country consisting of a 1196 coral island group in the Indian ocean. They have a total area of 300 km2. The climate is tropical; hot, humid; dry in the north-east monsoon season from November to March; rainy in the south-west monsoon season from June to August. The terrain is flat with elevations only as high as 2.5 meters. Natural resources are fish. The religion is SunniMuslim. The official language is Divehi with English spoken by most government officials.
Of the 1196 islands that comprise the Republic of the Maldives, only 203 are inhabited and were originally settled by Buddhist peoples arriving from Asia before being conquered by Muslims in the 12th century. In 1518 the islands were taken by Portugal, and from 1645 until 1948 were a dependancy of Sri Lanka, being a British protectorate from 1887 until 1965. In 1953 the islands declared themselves a republic, in 1954 they returned tobeing a Sultanate before in 1968 returning to a republic. Indepence was granted in 1965. Research Maldives
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Research Maldives