Government & People

Political Organization

The Maldives is a Presidential Republic and, according to its constitution, the President is the chief of the State, of the armed forces, of the executive committee and of the 48 Parliament members. According to the current constitution, the candidate is voted by the Parliament through a secret second ballot and is confirmed by a national referendum. The President is the chief of the executive committee and is helped by the ministries appointed by him, who are responsible towards the Parliament. At administration level, the country is divided into 20 districts.

Juridical system

The juridical system at the Maldives is based on the Islamic Sharia, which contains theological, moral and ritual rules, further to rules regarding the private, fiscal, penal, process and war laws. Sharia means " The way to follow ", but this word can be also translated as " Divine Law ".

Religion

Before the Maldives became an Islamic country, the national religion was Buddhism. According to a legend, Abul Barakat Yoosuf Al Barbary, an Islamic scholar, converted the country to Islam. He visited the Maldives when people were afraid of the " Rannamaari ", a sea-demon, who emerged from the sea once a month threatening to kill and destroy everything unless a virgin was immolated. In the evening, the unlucky girls were brought to a temple near the shore and were found dead the next morning. One day, the daughter of the house where Abul Barakat Yoosuf was staying at was chosen as the victim and he decided to save her. He disguised as a girl and spent the night in the temple reciting the Quran. In the morning, people found him alive while was still praying. When the king acknowledged that the demon had been defeated by the power of the Quran, he embraced Islam and ordered all the people to do the same.

Since then, Abul Barakat Yoosuf has been worshipped and his grave is today a holy place located in the Presidential garden in Male’. From that moment, all the Buddhist temples were destroyed and the first mosque was built in Male'.

Education

98% of the population has an average educational level. The most important school system in the atolls is the traditional Islamic school, where pupils learn math and to read and write in Dhivehi and Arabic. Pupils attending a high school are taught subjects such as Islam, Dhivehi, English, Math, Arts, Environmental Study, Writing, Gym and Quran. In Male' there are private and public British schools, which give a proper education to access the British school system. In the biggest islands there are the mandatory schools for a primary culture. Children are transported by sea from the neighboring islands, where there are no schools. Pupils must move to Male’ to attend the high school, where there are proper structures to host them.

Language

The Dhivehi is the official language of the Maldives and has Arabic and Indian influences. English is well-known at the Maldives, so tourists can easily communicate in Male' and in the fisherman’s villages. In the resorts, it is easy to find the staff speaking English, German, French, Italian or Japanese.