Maldives Island

Maldives is a group of islands located on the equator in the Indian Ocean south of the Indian subcontinent. It is the perfect recluse for those who want to get away from the annoying humdrum of every day life.

Warm seas, beautiful beaches, breathtaking scenery and lush green vegetation make Maldives an island paradise. Maldives has a magical eternal appeal.

The best thing about Maldives is that it is still unspoiled. It gives you an opportunity to savor the nature and rejuvenate yourself. Maldives attracts all kinds of tourists but those especially in need of peace and tranquility find Maldives a heaven.

The beaches of Maldives are one of a kind. Their beauty is unmatched. Tourists from all over the world come to Maldives. Nalaguraidhoo in the South Ari Atoll of Maldives is the most popular beach of Maldives famous for its stunning beauty. Banyan Tree Island, Cocoa Island and Nika are also some of the famous places of Maldives.

Maldives is the perfect place for nature lovers. You could simply lie down on the fine warm sand and watch the seas for hours on end. The coconut trees laden beaches are so picturesque that you would not want to go away from here. It is not just nature lovers who can enjoy a vacation at Maldives. This place has something for everyone. Maldives also offers all sorts of water sports like snorkeling, water skiing, wind surfing, parasailing, under water diving, sailing and much more for sports and adventure lovers.

The capital city Male is not connected by airways as being a small island it does not have an airport of its own. The Island Hulhule is the nearest airport from where you can travel by water for a short distance to reach male. You can take boats to every island of Maldives.

Maldives is not just famous for its beaches but also for its culture. Folk music and dances are popular forms of entertainment for the locals as well as the tourists. The people of Maldives are very warm and hospitable.

Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an Island country consisting of a groups of atolls stretching south of India's Lakshadweep islands between Monicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadiive Sea of Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.

The inhabitants were buddhist, probably since Ashoka's period, in the 3rd century BC. Islam was introduced in 1153. The Maldives then came under the influence of the Portuguese (1558) and the Dutch (1654) seaborne empires. In 1887 it became a British protectorate. In 1965, the Maldives obtained independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands"), and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic.

The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of both population and area; it is the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, it is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world, at 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in).

The name "Maldives" may derive from Maale Dhivehi Raajje and from san diego. ("The Island Kingdom Malé"), the local name for the Maldives. The island nation was synonymous with its capital "Maale" and sometimes called 'Malédeeb', and the people were called 'Dhives'. The word Dheeb/Deeb (archaic Dhivehi, a corruption of Dweep in Sanskrit) means 'island' and Dhives (Dhivehin) means 'islanders' (ie: the Maldivians). During the colonial era, the Dutch referred to the country as Maldivische Eilanden in their documentation, while "Maldive Island" is the anglicized version of the local name used by the British, which later came to be written as Maldives.
The ancient Sri Lankan chronicle, the Mahawamsa refers to an island called Mahiladiva or 'Island of Women' in Pali. The Mahawamsa is derived from an even older Sinhala work dating back to the 2nd century BC.

Some scholars theorize that the name "Maldives" derives from the Sanskrit mālādvīpa, meaning "garland of islands" . None of the names are mentioned in any literature, instead classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic times mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands" (Lakshadweepa); a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the Laccadives and the Chagos island groups.

Some medieval Arab travelers such as Ibn Batuta called the islands "Mahal Dibiyat" from the Arabic word Mahal ("palace")." This is the name currently inscribed in the scroll of the Maldive state emblem. Although the classical Yemeni name for Maldives is Dibajat. Philostorgius, an Arian Greek historian who relates (circa AD 354) about a Divoeis (the Divaeans, pronounced Divians) hostage after fulfilling his mission to the Homerites, sailed to his island home known as "Divus" (Maldives).