Talk:Maldives/Archive 1

Island Aviation Services
Why does that redirect here, with no mention of any airlines anywhere on the page? The link I found was on the Flag Carriers (aviation) page. Oliver9184 (talk) 11:44, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Water?
The box says about the water area that it is negligible. But on http://www.spiegel.de/reise/fernweh/0,1518,509357-3,00.html it says that only 0.3 percent of the total area of the maldives is land. 130.91.109.51 19:19, 5 October 2007 (UTC)lucas

Height of the tsunami?

 * On December 26, 2004 the Maldives were devastated by a 10 metre high tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

Was that tsunami really 10 metre high? The height of a tsunami is case-specific. It depends on the nature of the wave, geography of the sea floor and many other factors. Reports of 10 metre high tsunamis from India or Sri Lanka do not imply waves of the same height could also hit the Maldives. Did they really report a 10 metre high tsunami in the Maldives. -- Toytoy 09:35, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)


 * a 10 meter high tsunami would have devastated everything. First hand accounts tell of a 1 meter(or a little more) wave.

Tide marks on walls and reports from Meemu atoll show the height of the wave that hit several of the islands I visited varied from 1/2m to 2-3 m. As the water continued to rise for several mins people reported the water filled the rooms of their houses to the ceilings SER 18.1.05

The unique geography did not give rise to 10 meter high waves in the Maldives. The atoll/island formation looks more like huge peaking underwater mountains with deep valleys. This caused the energy of the waves to whirl within the deep sea valleys and the tsunami did not push upwards. Tides of about 1 to 4 meter in height were seen across the country. A 10 meter wave would have destroyed everything and most probably everyone. primary0

oppose revert by SEWilco
I strongly oppose this revet by SEWilco. Wikipedia surely is not a link repository. The only thing about internet directories, I found there, is Wikipedia articles are not: Internet directories. It doesnt say you cannot link an internet directry to a Wikipedia article. Besides by listing this, we can actually elminate the link repository, since all (well almost) the Maldives related pages can be found there, for anyone who is interested. Therefore I am reverting the edit back, to the way it was. --Oblivious 12:19, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
 * It is not difficult to find a link directory. Having one requires allowing any, or replacing the single one with someone else's favorite.  Removed entry again.  (SEWilco 16:42, 18 August 2005 (UTC))
 * I still oppose this revert of yours. However, I do not wish to end up in a "revert war"... so have it your way :) --Oblivious 16:57, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Geography
Does the channel down the "middle" of the double row of atolls have a name? Does it have any significance culturally or geographically? rodii 00:00, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

About sea levels: According to the Wikipedia entry on Sea levels linked to, the sea level was nearly 130 meters lower at the height of the last glaciation, about 20,000 years ago, and has been rising continuously ever since then. Maximum rates of rise have been >10 times higher than today for several thousand years of that period. This does not agree with the statement in this section that "Sea levels are at the lowest since the Permo-Triassec boundary 250 million years ago."

A better discussion of the sea level challenge to the Maldives would reference the ability of coral islands to change height with sea level by means of growth (rising sea) and erosion (falling sea), and to handle rates an order of magnitude greater than seen today. In addition, the mechanism of land formation (waves depositing sand -- eroded coral -- onto the island) limits the maximum altitude of the islands to a few meters regardless of the present or past sea levels.

A problem truly exists, however, in that the coral around some of the populated islands is currently suffering from both pollution and the use of barrier structures blocking the natural nutrient cycle, and its ability to grow is being threatened. This is, indeed, threatening some islands with flooding, but it has nothing to do with rising sea levels, as dead coral islands will sink through erosion regardless of the sea level change direction. Bcormack 04:23, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

"With two meters from sea level, it is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world." This language does not read very well. Perhaps 'At no more than two metres above sea level...' would be better. The Guardian words the facts quite well at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/11/climatechange-endangered-habitats-maldives Pob1984 (talk) 12:49, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Religion
The article has conflicting information claiming that the island was buddhist before it converted to Islam and later that it was Hindu.

Without knowing any of the history, I would guess that it was Hindu, then Buddhist. If someone else has a clue, ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.239.54.186 (talk • contribs)
 * According to this source (and few other I found) its buddhism and therefore I've changed it. --Oblivious 12:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Oblivious, you reverted out 66.174.92.164's edits recently. I assume that it was accidental that you went back that far (sinec the edit immediately afterward by a different IP was clearly a mess-up), so I changed Sheria back to Sharia and re-added the r in "undertaken."

As for their government, I added some cautionary notes at the top. The Maldives are still not entirely a Republic in the usual sense of the word; if it had been 2 years ago, we probably could have said "One-party Republic" and the sense of politics could have been portrayed accurately succintly. However, clearly things are in something of a shade of grey right now; I don't know of any way around that but to add some more details up top to give proper context. If anybody can shorten or improve that- or know of a better term for the current Maldives governmental structure- help would definitely be appreciated. SnowFire 05:08, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Theoretical Republic?
"...Maldives declared its independence from Britain, and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a theoretical Republic."


 * What, exactly, is a theoretical republic? Is this a mistake?  Unless someone provides a compelling reason for me to do otherwise, I am going to change this on Monday.--128.186.13.112 20:16, 7 July 2006 (UTC) (aka smallwhitelight)

Maldives' linguistic substrata
The following text was found in the History section of Maldives:


 * "The early inhabitants of Maldives were from present day Kerala and probably spoke an archaic form of Tamil, a Dravidian language . In fact people in the neighbouring Lakshadweep islands speak a form of Malayalam that is an off shoot of archaic Tamil."

...and...


 * "According to Clarence Maloney, a noted anthropologist, 'There is a clear Tamil substratum in the language, which also appears in place names, kin terms, poetry, dance, and religious beliefs. This is actually Tamil-Malayalam, as, up to about the 10th century when the Malayalam language acquired a separate identity, what is now Kerala was considered to be part of the Tamil area. There are numerous references in the Tamil Sangam (1st–3rd century) and medieval literature to kings of Kerala having ships, conducting invasions by sea, and ruling the northern part of Sri Lanka. People of Kerala settled the Lakshadvip Islands, and evidently viewed the Maldives as an extension of them. There is a Maldivian epic about Koimala, who is said to have come from Sri Lanka, bringing with him his royal lineage, landing on a northern atoll, and then making Malé his capital. But the name koi is from Malayalam koya, son of the prince, which is also the name of a high caste group in the Lakshadvip Islands. Koimala has now become a generalized eponymous ancestor of the pre-Muslim Divehis. The medieval settlements from Sri Lanka were strongest in the southern islands, and this gave rise to the Divehi language, Buddhism, and the ideals of kinship.'"

According to most any other source, the language of the Maldives is Indo-Aryan and not Dravidian (Tamil, in this case). For those unacquainted with the nuttier side of linguistics, linking anything and everything to a Dravidian substratum is a sport unto itself. The above edits, performed by 64.201.162.1 (Talk) between July 20, 2006 and July 26, 2006, are just that until proven innocent. Additionally, the second piece text was copied an pasted from a copyrighted source (link). --Adamrush 20:00, 26 July 2006 (UTC)


 * For those unacquainted with wikipedia, we tend to stick to verifiable cited information, as opposed to mass deletions of reliably sourced cited info by those seeking to portray their own laughably bloated sense of themselves by rewriting history. The reference and information from it above clearly says the earliest settlers (the Giravaaru) of the Maldives were ancient Tamil speakers, Dravidians who claimed ancestry from ancient Tamils and so that's what is in the article. The cite also explains the introduction of the language Divehi during the medieval period, and doesn't dispute what it considers its current language family to be. Clubover (talk) 17:29, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

New Island
I heard they're building a brand new Island or something? Or am I confused with another country? 84.69.196.108 12:57, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Thats Hulhumale' and you are not confused. --Oblivious 21:03, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Thilafushi, the garbage island is also a brand new island. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.21.176.43 (talk) 12:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

OFFICIAL NAME
Everywhere I looked is Republic of Maldives and not Democratic Republic of Maldives Abbott 15:20, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Reverted
I have reverted the article to a pervious version basically removing this and this external link. The former is removed becuase it asserts without citing and has POV issues - like → Moldavians see even MDP like Maumoon, a power hungry rather than campaigning honestly for the better future for Maldives. Please include everything reverted if you have references and try to keep it neutral. Thanks. --Oblivious 14:35, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Removal of external link

 * This is posted per Viceone request in edit summary of this inclusion.

There is no question about the website's usefulness and that is not disputed here. There is a guideline about including and excluding external links in articles. There isnt symmetry between the article in question and the external link. Although i see symmetric relation between this (which is not what's been repeatedly included in the article) and the article. The article is mainly about the Maldives and the link predominantly contains material promoting toursim (except this part). Therefore its is more relavent for this link to be included in Tourism in the Maldives and it already is. (see this answer for a question following the removal of similar links from this article).

In addition to the 'usefulness' of the link there are other factors considered when external links are included. For instance, this is a reversion of one useful link - a website directory of the Maldives. Even though the very nature of this link makes it useful, it still fails the inclusion criteria and therefore is, reasonably, removed. Thanks. --Oblivious 01:24, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Wildlife of Maldives
Kindly contribute to this article when you get time, and request others too.

Thanks

Atulsnischal 00:47, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

check out www.environment.gov.mv too. the article is not completed yet. so please complete it. thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Metalsifay (talk • contribs) 03:09, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

The article is inconsistent in the country's/island's name(s)
This article goes back and forth in the use of "Maldives" and "the Maldives". If people want to use "the Maldives" for the islands and "Maldives" for the country, I suppose that it would be okay, but the article is inconsistent in that respect as well, although it does usually use "the Maldives" when referring to the islands. -- Kjkolb 13:07, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
 * The Maldives is the right term for the country as it is a Nation of Islands. See the Netherlands and the Philippines.Lustead 14:14, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

Mahal Dibiyat
The article claims that Some medieval Arab travellers such as Ibn Batuta called the islands "Mahal Dibiyat" from the Arabic word Mahal ("palace"), but Emblem of Maldives says Ad-Dawlat Al-Mahaldheebiyya (Arabic: الدولة المحلديبية) means the State of The Thousand Islands. Which is correct? Jpatokal 04:00, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

The name inscribed in the scroll has the name Ibn batuta used. "Laccadives" or "Lakhsadweep" is derived from "hundred thousand islands", but "not Mahal Dibiyat." According to certain scholars, like H.C.P. Bell, "Mahal Dibiyat" is apparently derived from the Arabic word "Mahal" (palace), but it could also be a corruption of the original Sanskrit name of the country (Maale Divehi Raajje).

The Arabic motto "ad-dawlat al mahaldībīyat" means "government of the Mahal Dibiyat" which is the name Ibn Batuta and other Arab travellers used to refer to the the Maldives.Mohonu 03:12, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

i am also from maldives/ fuvahmulah, dont forget that we have our own dialect which is fuvahmulaku bas, somebody please mention it too.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Metalsifay (talk • contribs) 03:07, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Portuguese Empire
Why is there such a bulky reference to the Portuguese Empire at the end of the article? The Maldives was not one of the traditional Portuguese colonies in Asia and Portuguese hold on the country was at best tenuous. A short reference or link would be enough. Mohonu 05:00, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Maldives Scouting
Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Divehi? Thanks! Chris 03:47, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Be Prepared in dhivehi: ތައްޔާރުވެގެން ތިބުން / ތައްޔާރު ވުން

--~GlaCiouS~ (talk) 11:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Restructure this sentence and move to the article Maldives
Islands housing hotels, antennae, fuel tanks, and other such premises, are not counted as inhabited islands by the administration. Lustead 15:32, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

History Should not be Altered to reflect a Foreign Agenda
whileTamilakam and Eelam all Relect a Tamil outlook while in fact Eelam is the region of Sri Lanka where Tamil live and Tamilakam is Modern day Tamil Nadu and while a Tamil rule of south Asia in a specific time period did control the southern most region of South India, therefore the name dose not merit to be mentioned in the general migratory patterns of Maldives. Nevertheless south Asian Srilankans as a whole did settle the Maldives mainly it was the Sinhalese and the Dravidian Malabars who influenced the Maldives the most. And of you read the original Tarikh documents this is very evident. Its also worth mentioning that Gujarati seafeares also settled in the Maldives in numbers during the mentioned time.

The Tamils of Maldives the Giraavaru people claimed to be ancient Tamils and thus considering there ancestry they restricted there marriage to their own community. Until the twentieth century, the Giraavaru people displayed recognisable physical, linguistic and cultural differences to the rest of the Maldives islanders. See. Proud as they were they were also suffering from numerous terminal genetic disorders, due to gene pool restrictions.

View ] time line view, although an ongoing project.

While maldivians homogeneously speak a one language, Maldives culture is very different or some mention of being incompatible with that of Tamil culture.
 * Oh I entirely agree history shouldn't be altered. Not too sure what "singular view" you're referring to, but Tamilakam, one of several names it was known by, also refers to the ancient Tamil country made up of Tamil speaking realms at the time ancient Tamils migrated to the Maldives, which included Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. The cites on the Giraavaru people mention the earliest islanders coming from Tamil kingdoms. Based on these reliable sources, I've readded Tamilakam. I hope this has corrected your misunderstanding.Clubover (talk) 19:08, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Merge
Contend added from Employment & Labour in Maldives by primary0

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Primary0 (talk • contribs) 19:50, 25 April 2005 (UTC)

THE MALEDIVES IN  WWII
During WWII (February 26, 1941) a little naval battle took place close to the Maledives: the cruiser "Leander" (New Zealand) (Cap. Bevan) intercepted the Italian auxiliary cruiser "Ramb I" (Cap. Bonezzi), which tried to reach the Japanese allies: the "Leander", much stronger,sunk the "Ramb I". The wreck of the Italian ship (3,667 T.)lies still there, SW of the islands.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.144.151.204 (talk) 17:23, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Tourism number: 467,1548767869
First the number of tourist is not properly stated. Second, I don't believe the number. Third there needs to be a citation. George O&#39;Connor

Is it necessary to state in the introductory paragraph such a blatant absurdity that: "...the country's name may stand for "Mountain Islands" (malai in Tamil, meaning "mountain" and teevu in Tamil meaning "island")" in a country where there is not a single mountain?Mohonu

—Preceding unsigned comment added by George OConnor (talk • contribs) 02:32, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Language of Maldives.
Hi, I am from Maldives and our language is Dhivehi also known as Mahl. It is our own language which arose from different languages. Check out the dhivehi wikipedia for more information on the subject. But its in our language.. don't think that you guys would understand.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.21.176.49 (talk) 08:36, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Man-made Islands

 * Thilafushi island
 * Hulhumale' island
 * Can someone write about this

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.21.176.43 (talk) 12:56, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Redundant Paragraphs?
Are the following 2 paragraphs about the same incident? If so, they should be rewritten to reflect that.

''"A series of coup attempts (in 1980, 1983, and 1988) by Nasir supporters and business interests tried to topple the government without success. While the first two attempts met with little success, the 1988 coup attempt involved a roughly 200-person force of the PLOTE Tamil militant group who seized the airport and caused Gayoom to flee from house to house until the intervention of 1600 Indian troops airlifted into Malé restored order.

In November 1988, a group of Maldivians headed by Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee, a small time businessman, used Tamil mercenaries from Sri Lanka to stage a coup against President Gayoom. After an appeal by the Maldivian government for help, the Indian military intervened against the mercenaries in order to reinstate Gayoom in power. On the night of 3 November 1988, the Indian Air Force airlifted a parachute battalion group from Agra and flew them non-stop over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi) to the Maldives. The Indian paratroopers landed at Hulule and secured the airfield and restored the Government rule at Malé within hours. The brief, bloodless operation, labelled Operation Cactus, also involved the Indian Navy."'' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.217.24.16 (talk) 12:53, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Merge of Underwater Cabinet Meeting
I suggest this article should be merged into this one into environmental issues, as information about highlighting the problems caused by global warming. As it is, the article has no references and is written largely in note form. I don't think this is notable enough to warrant its own article, but that it is notable enough to have a metion somewhere and I think here is the most appropriate section. Jhbuk (talk) 18:11, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The underwater cabinet meeting was reported on by multiple news agencies and seemed to be a truly unique and notable event worthy of its own article, but you're right that the article at present is in terrible shape. Poor content is a reason to improve an article, not a reason to merge it with something else. Merging it into the Maldives article won't improve content about the meeting and will decrease the quality of the Maldives article. In a little time, someone will come along and repair the underwater cabinet meeting article. Flying Jazz (talk) 16:49, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Just because something has lots of news coverage, it does not make it necessarily notable. I don't think that this, described as a 'bit of fun' by a cabinet member, and which does not appear to have affected anything, is notable enough for its own article. WP:News articles essay: "Events which only garner transitory attention do not merit encyclopedic articles"
 * Regarding the problems caused by merging, I was not suggesting sections of the article should just be cut and pasted into the maldives article. The basic info is essentially sound, so I don't think it would be difficult to 'wikify' the most important segments and find suitable references to fit into the maldives article. Jhbuk (talk) 22:09, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

I have put it up for WP:AfD here:Articles for deletion/Underwater Cabinet MeetingJhbuk (talk) 21:26, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Religious requirements unique?
Does anyone know if the Maldives requirement that citizens adhere to Islam is unique in the world? While I know of countries which prohibit conversion from Islam, I'm not aware of any other countries which make it a requirement of citizenship. If it is unique (or rare), I think this ought to be mentioned. Brettz9 (talk) 21:58, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree. I'm sure that Vatican City requires citizens to be catholic Christians (unsurprisingly), don't know of any others though. See State religion for a list of officially Islamic countries (where that information on Maldives could also be added). --Roentgenium111 (talk) 19:49, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Map
The map is hideous. Can we not change it? You cannot even see traces of any islands or atolls, just a greenly streaked stretch below India. Veronica Lars (talk) 09:32, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Parvez gsm (talk) 10:31, 26 January 2010 (UTC) actually i made the map with along bangladesh+nepal. with those countries it was easy, but for maldives its quite tough to make border in this kind of orthographic projection. if we to make outlines of island, then we have to replace orthographic projection with a more centralized regional map.

Why don't we just have a red box around the islands? Or a circle? Anything. This map is pointless. You may as well change the picture to something else, because the entire purpose of having a map there is to show people where the nation is located. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.164.224.101 (talk) 21:21, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Marine Ecosystem
The Marine Ecosystem part of this article is sloppy and written like an advertisement for scuba diving —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.191.235 (talk) 20:15, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Marriage scandal
Recent marriage scandal in the Maldives: include?--Zucchinidreams (talk) 20:57, 4 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Irrelevant occurrence.. happens all round the world. Not significant enough for the country profile. It has been mentioned in Tourism in Maldives. Cheers! - ziansh | talk 09:58, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Geology of the islands
The peculiar geology of the islands deserves a better description. This sentence, in particular, is garbled: "Below the humus layer are 60 centimetres (2 ft) of sandstone, followed by sand and then fresh water.". Wow - stone that floats on fresh water? 8-) Obviously the measurements are not universal but at some particular place -- where? Also, is that really sandstone, or limestone made of compacted coral "sand"? --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 02:18, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Climate
I believe the climate is incorrect. From reading all over the web, December - March is dry season. The rest is wet season. June/July/August being the wettest and muggy. Not entirely sure where the information in climate section come from. --vhadiant (talk) 07:26, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Economy
A citation for the claim that tourism generates 28% of the Maldives' GDP and fishing is the second largest sector can be found in the CIA World Fact Book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mv.html Sorry, I'm not a regular author and don't really know how to write a citation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.144.248.122 (talk) 12:20, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Total Population
The two population figures listed do not make sense. The population increased by more than 25% between 2006 and 2010 despite and negative growth rate. Looking at the consistency of the census data it would seem that there is a typo in the world fact book. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.85.8.1 (talk) 21:02, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Religion
The mentioning of Freedom of Religion seems to be from a christian point of view and full of Chauvinism, such persons who put this on are supposed to go to hell. Note that Maldives is a nation with State Religion and there is no comparison to a country without dominant religion. All in all, this chapter is full of bias and lack of descriptive narrations. I have to stress that Wiki Is a website about a plate world scene and Not in any case related to Propagada or Propagation of certain ideology. If other users find such things appearing repetetively, there is no need to promote Wikipedia anymore! NO More misleading!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.77.83.57 (talk) 16:45, 2 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Threatening people with words like "such persons who put this on are supposed to go to hell" shows your hatred towards people. And by the way, Atheists don't believe in hell and heaven.Religiousfreedom (talk) 07:08, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

"Note that Maldives is a nation with State Religion and there is no comparison to a country without dominant religion." Exactly. In the former, there is NO freedom of religion, while there is freedom of religion in the latter. I do not see any bias in the section. ---Dagme (talk) 05:51, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Environmental Issues
I propose that the statement "However, around 1970, the sea level there dropped 20–30 centimetres (8–12 in).[22]" be deleted. I read this paper and the vast majority of the data refers to estimates of sea levels from geologic formations with dates thousands of years ago. The one piece of data (one!) they have in the modern era is based on anecdotal reports of the ability ships to pass through a particular area in the 1970's. They assume that there has been no change (they present no evidence) in the sand or the draft of the boats passing through. They attribute the difference entirely to a drop in sea level during the 70's, but neglect to comment that sea levels are higher now. The authors shockingly conclude that because the people of Maldives survived the same sea levels for transient periods over 3000 years ago that they will again in spite of the large change in population and development of the islands They do not present any evidence of the degree of casualties of the "survival" 3000 years ago. Overall I must conclude that the paper that this sentence is based upon is, at best, unvalidated work, and at worst politically biased. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.45.59.164 (talk) 17:36, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

As a follow-up to be more fair to the authors of the questioned study: The basic premise of the authors is that the local sea level in the region of the Maldives is experiencing a *drop* in sea level not a rise. The attribute this change to increased evaporation to to climate changes in the region. Clearly local sea levels can and will fluctuate away from the global average trend. Someone more familiar with the range of scientific opinion should write a few sentences discussing it and the range of outcomes for the Maldives. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.45.59.164 (talk) 17:51, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Who should I believe, a paper or my own lying eyes? I've lived in the same spot directly on the beach on an island in Florida for over 50 years, yet the water sure seems the same level. If the water has risen 8 inches in the past century, then it must have been in the first 50 years because my house is exactly where it was during the 1950's, my boathouse is exactly the same location, the seawalls are exactly the same, everything is exactly the same, yet I haven't seen one iota of water level change (besides the normal tides). My stupid lying eyes... I'll be sure to believe what you wrote on paper because that's sooo much more believable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.113.201.240 (talk) 16:28, 8 February 2012 (UTC) So you don't think the sea-level has dropped over the past few decades? I guess you will be in favour of criticising the paper that stated that it has?137.111.13.167 (talk) 04:18, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

coup
currently the country is in a very worse state. Places are burning down, president resigned yesterday. Militia is bbeaten. Not cool — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.153.80.28 (talk) 19:20, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Reported 02/09/2012 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/9/ousted_maldives_pres_mohamed_nasheed_a

Coup in Maldives: Adviser to Ousted Pres. Mohamed Nasheed Speaks Out from Hiding as Arrest Sought

The first democratically elected president of the tiny Indian Ocean state of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, has been ousted in what he has described as a coup d’état at gunpoint. A longtime pro-democracy activist who was jailed for six years, Nasheed has achieved international prominence as a leading campaigner to save island nations from global warming. Earlier today, Nasheed said an arrest warrant has been issued for him following two days of street protests against the coup. We speak with Paul Roberts, who served as Nasheed’s communications adviser and was with him on the day of the coup. Roberts says he fears a warrant has been issued for his own arrest and speaks to us from an undisclosed location. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.186.214.152 (talk) 02:12, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Most of the section called "Challenges" is propaganda supporting the coup. Somebody with expertise on the matter needs to replace that section with a historically accurate account. If that is not done in the next week, I will delete that section and request a replacement. ---Dagme (talk) 06:02, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

This is my first time editing on Wikipedia, so apologies in advance if I was overly bold in making some changes here. I don't claim any expertise (see Dagme above), but agreed that much of this section read like propaganda, so I made some changes based on news reports I'd seen, and cited them accordingly. One was an op ed piece by Nasheed himself in The New York Times, the other by Reuters. They both felt more pertinent than the previous blog posts. (There could be more, like the Democracy Now link by anonymous, above. The section still seems unnecessarily pro-coup.) I hope the edits are okay. Antocalypse (talk) 17:39, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

"The section still seems unnecessarily pro-coup." Agreed. It is still unacceptable and I hope somebody steps up soon to make the substantive changes that are needed. I believe that the propagandist also vandalized this talk section, but that seems fixed now. Let's get this taken care of. --- Dagme (talk) 23:14, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Destruction of ancient Buddha statues
The article of the NYTimes about the topic

Some of the 30 statues of the National Museum (Maldives) were nearly 1400 years old. Ali Waheed (the director of National Museum) stated: "The collection was totally, totally smashed. The whole pre-Islamic history is gone."

Is it possible to add this to the article? Perhaps it would also fit here or here. --Askalan (talk) 19:57, 13 February 2012 (UTC)


 * The destruction of Hindu and Buddhist history of Maldives is a very serious matter. It shows lesser religious tolerance towards religion other than the state religion of Islam. This must be there in the religious section.Religiousfreedom (talk) 06:56, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

There also needs to be some information about the Wahhabi-Salafi invasion of Maldives. This is the fanatical ideology of Saudi Arabia which is slowly displacing Maldives native Islamic traditions. You can see it everyday in the streets, the number of women wearing Arab-style black cloaks and veils have exploded in such a short time. Also the rise of the Adalath party — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.231.80.36 (talk) 14:20, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Republic of Maldives vs. Maldives Wikipedia pgs
If I'm not mistaken, everything on the Republic of Maldives page is almost the same thing on the Maldives page...Except, the Maldives page has a semi-nude Buddhist Tara picture. I suggest we remove the Buddhist Tara picture, as IMO it sort of ruins the page, in order to keep it identical with the Republic of Maldives page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kiwix (talk • contribs) 21:51, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Identical with what page exactly? Buddhism was a important part of the Maldivian history, thatswhy it would not be acceptable to remove the picture.--Askalan (talk) 22:10, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
 * That's weird; on the Republic of Maldives page it did not show that picture, but now it shows it...Yes buddhism is an important part of the Maldivian history, but my point was previously that there was a picture on 1 page and not on the other and that we should take it down to match the other page...Anyway, I think it would still be better if we removed the picture so it could be easily accessed by students who are doing projects on Maldives, so that they wouldn't have to look at semi-nude photographs. You can still keep the history about buddhism; the picture is just decor. Kiwix (talk) 05:11, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
 * What page do you actually mean? Write a link or something.
 * To your other point: Semi-nude Picture? Really? It is doesn´t matter, it was a important part of the history, so it stays here. If you think that´s kind of offensive or something, don´t use this site. Make your own prude muslim site if you want to. There is a reason Wikipedia is called "The Free Enzyclopedia".--Askalan (talk) 12:37, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

geology
The geography section could do with some information on the geology, that is, on the origin of the islands. Do they follow the path of an ancient volcanic hot spot? Cesiumfrog (talk) 09:08, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Redundancy in '2012 ousting of President Nasheed' section
In the '2012 ousting of President Nasheed' section the 4th paragraph is redundant with sections of the 3rd paragraph. The redundancy should be eliminated. Tweisbach (talk) 09:51, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Relevance
Does this content belong to this article? -- S M S  Talk 12:29, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Merge with Maldive Islands?
There is a short stub at Maldive Islands. The feedback left by users indicates that the article is causing confusion in unexperienced readers, who probably arrived there from Google or the search function and expected to find the proper article about the Maldives. True, it does link back to this article clearly enough, but is it even necessary? Wouldn't a redirect suffice? --Florian Blaschke (talk) 19:32, 29 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Technically, it also encompasses Minicoy Island, but even our own article Maldives isn't really consistent on this. Perhaps we could make a note somewhere in Maldives that that island (owned by India) is technically considered part of the islands (if this is even true), and merge. This is exactly how we should be handling reader feedback and heartens me that the feature is doing some good. Kansan (talk) 19:37, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

Neutrality of Section on 2012 Coup
The section currently violates WP:NPOV as well as WP:Sources. If there was corruption under Nasheed, please reference a legitimate source that covers a specific incident, not anti-Nasheed blogsites that merely express their writers' opinions.Jdkag (talk) 12:59, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Sorry to wade on in here (Warning! Newbie trying to live up to the BE BOLD policy I read about), but even though it was a violation, would the better course simply be to remove it rather than add a place holder then talk here? I reverted it in the mean time ^^ Terkaal (talk) 07:54, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Apparently nothing has been done about the NPOV issues on this section. This should be reported so appropriate editors can correct the content. --Perew (talk) 00:33, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

The section was a complete, unintelligible, unencyclopaedic mess. I've tidied up the existing information so that it actually forms some kind of coherent narrative and removed the POV. The section isn't at all up to date with the developments in the Maldives, but I can't be bothered typing up new sections right now. At least the stuff that was already there is presentable now. 86.17.19.215 (talk) 09:16, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

This edit war is ridiculous. The original version of this section was completely unencyclopaedic. If you don't like what it's been changed to, discuss it and modify it, but reverting it to its original state is not an option. Wikipedia is not a place for one-sided, unsourced, sarcastic rants about politicians. 86.17.19.215 (talk) 23:02, 25 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The current version I am reading is not perfect, but hardly a one sided sarcastic rant. Can you be more specific? Also, I think the subsection should be changed to "Nasheed Presidency" or something similar.  The content is about more than just his "ousting."  Ditch &#8733;  18:45, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Most of the text seems acceptable enough, but this part seems seriously biased: "From that moment on, Maldivians are being bombarded with vastly differing versions of events on 7 February and prior to that. Unfortunately, President Waheed appears to be too busy lurching from crisis to crisis led by the nose by his coalition partners and by Nasheed, to bother about a small matter such as an investigation into allegations of a military coup." I will go ahead and remove this part from the article, as it equates to editorializing and adds little to nothing from a content perspective. Kansan (talk) 18:59, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I agree. The version I first read did not include that language.  I see it in the diffs, but am having trouble distinguishing who originally inserted it. Anyway, doesn't really matter. Hopefully people will start talking this out, rather than edit warring.   Ditch &#8733;  19:20, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

Uh Oh...
We may have a problem here. Same section, a few paragraphs down:

The cited source reads: ''Nasheed alleges that 18 security service officers pointed guns at his head and demanded that he resign. He says that, if he did not resign, the MNDF officers threatened to fire upon the public. First Lt. Ali Ihusan categorically denied that. He said that, he had been on the ground from the late afternoon of February 6th, had interacted with and been close to Nasheed several times during the events, but had not witnessed any MNDF officers asking Nasheed to resign. On the contrary, he too had been present when Nasheed asked several officers present whether he should resign. He contends that the call for resignation came from outside, fuelled by an escalation of the situation due to misjudgments by Nasheed and his ministers in handling the situation that day.''

The article reads: ''Nasheed alleges that 18 security service officers pointed guns at his head and demanded that he resign. He says that, if he did not resign, the MNDF officers threatened to fire upon the public. First Lt. Ali Ihusan categorically denied that. He said that, he had been on the ground from the late afternoon of 6 February, had interacted with and been close to Nasheed several times during the events, but had not witnessed any MNDF officers asking Nasheed to resign. On the contrary, he too had been present when Nasheed asked several officers present whether he should resign. He contends that the call for resignation came from outside, fuelled by an escalation of the situation due to misjudgments by Nasheed and his ministers in handling the situation that day. ''

I'm not going to use the "p" word here, or dig through the diffs to see who did this, but it is definitely very concerning. I'm going to work on fixing this section, but if anyone has some time, it might be helpful to check the language of some of the other sources vs. the article text to make sure this is not a larger problem. Ditch &#8733; 19:59, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't see any down paragraphs except the differentiates between the date 6 February and February 6th. --Raptor232 (talk) 21:43, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
 * It's me, Kansan again (I changed my username yesterday): I noticed that this source is used for some of the contentious areas, and frankly, this doesn't strike me as a reliable source at all; it is a blog post that takes a definitive POV and makes no bones about it. Can a better source be found? Against the current (talk) 15:20, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Addendum: I removed one instance where this blog was simply noted as a duplicate source to Al Jazeera (clearly reliable), and I removed one paragraph entirely based on the blog, all of which contained potentially contentious material. One instance of the blog being cited still remains because I have not yet figured out how best to handle it, and I would hope somebody else takes a look at it in the meantime if I do not have time to get back to it immediately. Against the current (talk) 15:37, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The artilce clearly states what happened in February 7th day President nasheed resigned, What proof do you have to say that the source in not reliable? It clearly states what happened in February 7th day President nasheed resigned. So do not judge based on a point of view. --Raptor232 (talk) 16:45, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The article does more than say that the President resigned. It goes on and claims to talk about "what really happened", as if it were promoting some sort of conspiracy. It takes a definite side and is not wirtten in an unbiased manner. And I don't think the site is reliable at all; it's listed as somebody's blog, and I took a look at what else the website has. One article I found is called "The miraculous nature of the Quran." This is clearly not a reliable news site, and whether the government links to it (which hasn't been proven) is irrelevant. Against the current (talk) 16:54, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * That's a poor excuse cause to remove it. The artile is about ousting president nasheed not praising him. --Raptor232 (talk) 17:01, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I reverted your changes because you were given a poor excuse to remove a artile that came from a reliable source. --Raptor232 (talk) 17:10, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I have given you several reasons why I do not think the source is reliable and you have responded to none of them. You only continue to assert that it is reliable but asserting it does not make it so. Against the current (talk) 17:13, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The article is about ousting of president nasheed so it contains about the incidents happened on president nasheeds resignation as other news sources have brought so i haven't seen any biased material from the article. --Raptor232 (talk) 17:20, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
 * It discusses the circumstances of the resignation and implies that Ali Ihusan's account must have been untrue. If all of this has been covered by other sources, can we simply find another, more neutral, source to cover this? Against the current (talk) 17:24, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Reference problem
Reference #41 (^ "A sinking feeling: why is the president of the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru so concerned about climate change?". New York Times Upfront. 2011.) currently takes you to a search engine at Search.com. New York Times Upfront seems to require registration, so I'm not sure how to fix this. 75.89.51.144 (talk) 01:32, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I did a little research and came up with these. This page is with the list and this page is from NYT Upfront. If no one is opposing to these, I will replace the citation with these pages. Thanks. -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 12:56, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Replaced; no opposition -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 12:09, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

population density
These numbers don't make sense. 10,036.9/km2 (11th) 2,866.9/sq mi You would assume /km2 would be lower than /sq mi, not the other way around.
 * These are inverse km2 (No. of people per km2), thus slash /. Materialscientist (talk) 00:24, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Materialscientist doesn't understand this. The original commenter is right - the numbers don't make sense. A square mile is much larger than a square kilometer. Thus, you would expect more people to be in a square mile than a square kilometer. Indeed, this appears to be a typo. The World Bank reports population density in the Maldives in 2010 to be 1052.95/km2, or 2685.55/sq mi. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.88.227.130 (talk) 20:47, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure whether what I suggest makes sense, but since only less than 4% of the territory is land, were the population density to be calculated on that area, it would be 27 561 inh./km², which I think is more useful in terms of what population density is used to measure (overpopulation, urbanization, livability etc.). Lori 21:52 CET 11/07/2013 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pqnlrn (talk • contribs) 19:53, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

User SriSuren's edits
Copied from User talk:SriSuren

A Quicky Introduction

 * User SriSuren on 12th July removed certain information from the article citing lack of reference.


 * On 26th, an IP added both the info back and the source along with which it was removed, claiming it was referenced. This was reverted by SriSuren whose edit summary contained:"The reference states that its from Sanskrit. No mention of Tamil or Malayalam in the whole book".


 * I added a different source supporting the content, as well as re-instated the removed source seeking evidence for its removal.This was immediately undid by Suren who had this time REMOVED BOTH THE SOURCES. However on his talk page, he had clarified on the first source, and he was justified.


 * But once again he removed(this time without discussing) all the info and manipulated with the source which corresponded to the info that he had removed.

Clarifications

 * Now going through the content of the article, the key para says:

""Some theorise that the name Maldives derives from the Sanskrit mālādvīpa (मालाद्वीप), meaning "garland of islands". In Malayalam, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as Maladweepu (മാലദ്വീപ്). In Tamil, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as MalaiTheevu (மாலைத்தீவு). None of these names is mentioned in any literature, but classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic period mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands" (Lakshadweepa), a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the Laccadives, Aminidivi Islands, Minicoy and the Chagos island groups.""


 * While it speculates above on the term 'Maldives' possibly derived from Sankrit term Maladvipa, the word Maladvipa itself translates to "Garland of islands".


 * Now garland of islands as the content rightly points out, translates into Malai and Theevu in Tamil and Malaidweepu in Malayalam respectively.


 * The source that I have added, provides the literal translation of the term, but Suren says he reverted on the basis of :"Your new source was nothing but a list of names, it does not support any claims of the etymology of Maldives, nor does it support your translations of the words." I see it as a direct case of POV pushing/ deliberate vandalism because it seems like the Tamil and Malayalam translations of the term have been removed to project only the Sinhala and Sanskriti translations, so as to Sinhalize/Sanskritize the etymology altogether.


 * Moreover the Tamil translation is not of an isolated basis, since Maldives was first inhabited by Tamil-speaking 3}} [Dravidian people]](See:Giravaaru people) who established a human civilization in Male, and are widely popular in local folklores as the original inhabitants of the island prior to inter-mixing with other immigrants.


 * Maldives was also once a part of the Chola empire, which has been documented in Tamil Nadu and in one of the Chola records, Maldives is given the name "Munnir Palantivu Pannirayiram"(twelve thousand islands and the ocean where three waters meet) as per the (Source: Maldivian Government Agency).

So, User:SriSuren's edits come as high-handed disruptions into sensitive information, and by the sheer attitude with which he is involved in discussions show he is no mood to collaborate/or he is significantly determined in pushing his POV(very obvious to me he is not doing it unintentionally or something else) by the brash and impulsive language he is using in discussions. I do hope he would clarify further, now that this discussion is more public and in any case a third person might judge the issue and realize its gravity as well-- CuCl2 (talk . contr . mail) 12:17, 27 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Copperchloride, This is simply ridiculous. The above looks like an ANI posted in the wrong place. LOL This is a talkpage of an article, not a noticeboard to complain about other editors. Anyways, your above post is nothing but an admission that you didn't have references for the content you added and that your actual intention is to give the impression that the word Maladvipa is derived from Tamil or Malayalam or that Tamil/Malayalam has something to do with the derivation.


 * So, this is just another case of you trying to use the talkpage to present diverse irrelevant theories and your own assumptions and trying to force others into accepting your deductions and original research, derived from your own analysis of sources. In other words, you want to insert your own original research into the article. All the points about the Chola's and Giraavu people etc etc just part of your own synthesis (by the way need a relaible reference for that the Giraavaru people were Tamil speaking). WP:SYNTHESIS, WP:STICKTOSOURCE It's just another case of your disruptive editing. What you need is a reference which says that Maladvipa is derived from Tamil and/or Malayalam (one would do since Tamil and Malayalam are closely related), and if you do not have that reference you must not add that sentence in the section about the derivation of the word Maladvipa, since the source you keep adding does not have a single occurance of Tamil or Malayalam, which you have already admitted. Even if it did say what the word meant in Tamil and Malayalam, its still not a source for the derivation of Maladvipa being from Malayalam or Tamil. Derivation and meaning is not the same.


 * Tamil - = search results in the 0


 * Malayalam - search results in the book 0


 * As for the second source, i.e the list which you claim supports the content you added - the difference between my edit and yours which you yourself have posted above, clearly shows that you added the second reference way down after this following sentence:
 * "None of these names is mentioned in any literature, but classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic period mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands" (Lakshadweepa), a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the Laccadives, Aminidivi Islands, Minicoy and the Chagos island groups."
 * The questions which arise from your using or rather misuing this list as a source for your claims are:
 * a) What is the relevance of this list to the above sentence?
 * b) Where in that list of names, does it state anything about the literature from Vedic period mentioning "Hundred Thousand Island" (Lakshadweepa) a generic name which would include all the other islands mentioned?
 * c) Where in the list does it give the translations of the words Malaitheevu and Malaidweepu as you first claimed, which is in your edit summary in the you yourself mention above and now say that a reader can use Google translate? :) If one can use Google translate, why add the list at all?
 * d) Also, if you intended that this list can be used to translate the Tamil and Mayalam words, why did you add it after a completely different sentence further down?
 * e) In your opening paragraph in this discussion (your Quick introduction, point 3) you claim that this simple list of names in different languages supports the content you added! The content you added being way up, and referenced with a source which you have already admitted as not supporting the content you added.


 * So my dear friend, you are left with just the link to a list of names in different languages, as your sole source for the derivation of the name Maladvipa, being from either Tamil or Malayalam, which was not even inserted after the sentence, but further down in the paragraph!!!


 * As said, what u need is a reference from a realiable source which says that Maladvipa is derived from Tamil and/or Malayalam (one would do since Tamil and Malayalam are closely related), and if you do not have a reliable source, please do not disrupt Wikipedia, with any more commotions, and please delete the unreferenced content immediately as you yourself have admitted that the source does not support that.
 * WP:STICKTOSOURCE, WP:SYNTHESIS SriSuren (talk) 07:01, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Reply

 * No admissions made, nor is this anything ridiculous never mind your opinion. Like I said you just want your opinionated version everywhere, please spare at least the talk page. And if you are talking about being lame, you for yourself added a citation tag to my comment here(this is a talk page ffs), how lamer can you get?


 * The Girvaaurus were the first people to discover Maldives, and they sailed from the Malabar Coast which constituted erstwhile Tamilakam back in the old times. And the Maldives like many of the island territories in the Indian Ocean was under Chola rule for a brief period and hence is mentioned in one of their Chronicles. Its a pity your knowledge relevent to Maldiveds is so limited, and yet you can actively spend time in searching out an e-book and check out how many Tamil and Malayalam words exist in them. Whatever 'goodwill' and 'constructiveness' are you talking about, I cannot comprehend.
 * 1. I reapeat - please just give a reference.
 * 2. I know that you cannot comprehend.
 * 3. You call checking the reference as "Actively spend time in searching out an e-book?" LOL. Suddenly the reference is termed an e-book? The very same source you have been repeatedly adding, and when I checked the reference it is reduced to "actively searching out". Says so much about your honesty and the reliability of your edits, than anything else. Also you asked for the proof. You should not have asked, if you were not going to like what u will see.
 * 4. You seem to think that talk pages are some kind of a cheap forum. Please stick to normal accepted language  and if you think you don't have to give references for your claims in talkpages, you seriously need to stop editing here. You have still have some unreferenced claims in your post. eg. Giravaaru people being Tamil speaking (please give full citations with page numbers) WP:CITE.
 * SriSuren (talk) 22:00, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Clarifications(II)
I'am totally unable to comprehend all that you have flooded into here, but I'll try to answer them all in a brief possible manner unlike you, who only seem interested in diverting and escalating everything.


 * Chiefly, the content here talks of Maldives being a translation of 'Mala Dvipa' in Sanskrit and 'Mahiladiva' in Sinhala. It only says MAY HAVE DERIVED and not that it had been derived likeyour POV claims.So since I'am not convinced of this fact, nor can you convince me; why don't you simply blank the section and I might as well keep mum and go away as well.


 * Mala Dvipa in Sanskrit translates into Garland of Flowers which in turn in Tamil becomes 'MalaiThivu'. So the list is not only giving a translation of plainly the term Maldives into Tamil but rather supports the claim that 'மாலைத்தீவு' which means Garland of flowers(the google translates is as not maldives;if it was only a name translation) was used to refer to the island.


 * I had already accepted(and told this too) that the first source bore no significance; But I never used it to clarify the content that was there, it is OBVIOUS, I'am using the third source, and you are just making it seem you were ignorant or too stupid to scroll down and verify. You were well aware and there is no use pretending.-- CuCl2 (talk . contr . mail) 07:46, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * @Copperchloride, this section is about the etymology of Maldives i.e. how the name was derived. What you're doing is merely providing the Tamil/Malayalam translations of Maldives. The source you provided merely provides the name of Maldives in dozens of other languages. You will need to provide a source that says that Maldives is derived from MalaiTheevu/Maladweepu.
 * @SriSuren - why did you only remove the Tamil/Malayalam names from this section, why didn't you remove other unreferenced content from this section, particularly the bits about the Sinhala name or the Mahawamsa both of which are unreferenced?-- obi2canibe talk contr 12:19, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * User:Obi2canibe, Nowhere Am I contending that Maldives has been derived from Malaithivu, my point is that the whole section has been speculative in nature. If people can speculate Maldives was off-shoot derivation of a Sanskrit term(especially when there was remote possibility of Maldives ever being influenced by Sanskrit), whats wrong in mentioning the Tamil term especially when both the terms when translated give the same meaning. SriSuren challenged the previous source as it did not provide any Tamil translation. The current source justifies the text, and a solid evidence that மாலைத்தீவு is indeed the translation we are talking about. All translations of 'Maldives' do not mean 'Garland of Flowers', I hope you get the point. And given the island's original inhabitants being descendants of Tamils(See:Giravaaru people), I don't see how the name could have yet possibly been derived from Sanskrit word..It would be interesting to Note Malaithivu and Maldive bear a great deal of resemblance. CuCl2 (talk . contr . mail) 15:28, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
 * To Obi2Canbe, I have no objections to anybody removing Sinhala. You can remove it if u want to. I did remove some unwanted reference to Sinhala a couple of weeks ago. I removed that part because it was not cited and was irrelevant and seriously misplaced and confusing. If I had removed Sinhala totally, it would have been wrong since there are scholars who make connections between the Sinhala language and Dhivehi to the extent that some even say its a dialect of Sinhalese (which is ofcourse wrong, its a language on its own, and is not even derived from Sinhala as thought earlier. Ref. “ The Dhivehi Language. A Descriptive and Historical Grammar of Maldivian and Its Dialects ” by Sonja Fritz. There is an explaination given for the derivation of Maladvipa from Mahiladipa in it. Its from a Sinhalese legend). The reason I removed Tamil and Malayalam is that I have never read anywhere that it could be derived from Tamil or Malayalam, and the reference given didn't support the claim either.
 * The only entry given in the The comparative dictionary of Indo-Aryan languages is this. I do not know what to make of it. I think * means hypothetical. I don't think its wise to introduce another term into an already confusing discussion. So lets just leave it at that.
 * There is another derivation where it is said that Male is from "Maha" + "le", where Maha means great and le means blood. Both these words are also found in Sinhala, I don't know whether other Indic languages have it.
 * The point is, when it comes to folk derivations, only one's own fantasy is the limit, so if we all stick to sources where scholars have done the derivations, and try to be reasonable, there should not be an issue. As for Maladvipa being derived from Tamil or Malayalam, there doesn't seem to be even a folk derivation for it, and its purely CuCl2 trying to disrupt Wikipedia to make a point. Now suddenly he has introduced another meaning - "Garland of flowers" I don't know which reference says that. If he is not going to listen to what you have to say, he is not going to listen to anybody else either.SriSuren (talk) 18:59, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * To Copperchloride,
 * 1. Looks like you have reverted the uninvolved editor's (Joshua Jonathan) good faith edit!!! That's your 5th revert in 24 hours and 30 mintues.
 * 2. (I presume that third source is a typo and it should be second)
 * 3. Now you got Obi2Canbe too as a second uninvolved editor, telling u what u need (so its 3 vs 1 now).
 * 4. I know that you cannot comprehend, that's why I explained in detail, why your edit is problematic. Again and again.... you try to give the impression that this simple list of names, which u have now admitted as your sole source, supports the content you keep adding and the synthesis you are trying to achieve, by inserting the content right after the Sanskrit derivation, in the section of etymology, namely that Maladvipa is derived from Tamil or Malayalam. Now you have introduced a new translation, "Garland of flowers" !! To keep it short, let me quote you from your first post here:
 * You: "The source that I have added, provides the literal translation of the term, but Suren says he reverted on the basis of :"Your new source was nothing but a list of names, it does not support any claims of the etymology of Maldives, nor does it support your translations of the words."
 * Your claim that it provides any kind of translation, let alone the literal translation of these words is simply something which anybody can check and find out that it is not true, by clicking the link.
 * Here is what the list in the link gives for Tamil and Malayalam:
 * மாலத்தீவு ............ Tamil ........  ta
 * மாலைத்தீவுகள் ..... Tamil ........ ta
 * മാലിദ്വീപ് ............ Malayalam .... ml


 * So, again Copperchloride, where is this literal translation you claim?


 * As said earlier, there's absolutely no relevance of what these words mean in Tamil or Malayalam in the section of etymology. There's a separate article for the different names of Maldives. So this is actually a huge no-issue, even if there was a translation given, in your link.
 * So please, just give a reliable source which says that Maladvipa is either derived from Tamil or Malayalam (one is acceptable), and if you cannot give such a source, just don't keep edit warring. You have reverted Joshua Jonathan's edit too, that's a lot of reveting (see - 3 revert rule), without a single source for what you are actually adding to the article, and you do not have the consensus on your side either. SriSuren (talk) 21:49, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * @Copperchloride - Although this may not have been your intention, by including the Tamil/Malayalam translations in the "Etymology" section, I and other readers may infer that Maldives may be derived from the Tamil/Malayalam translations. You're correct that the whole section is speculative but that's the nature of etymology and if the speculation is mentioned in a RS we should include it. The Sanskrit theory is backed up by a reference which states "The name Maldives...is derived from Sanskrit mala (garland) and dvipa (island)" so we should keep it, the rest of the section should be deleted.
 * @SriSuren - Using The comparative dictionary of Indo-Aryan languages to back up the Sinhala derivation may be bordering on WP:OR. Given the contentious nature we should, as you say, stick to scholarly sources which explicitly mention the derivation.-- obi2canibe talk contr 18:43, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Obi2Canbe, I had no intention of adding that into the section about etymology of the word, since it does not give any etymology, and it would not be just bordering original research, it would definitely be original research. CopperChloride seems to have vanished from the discussion he started.... SriSuren (talk) 20:24, 1 August 2013 (UTC)

User:obi2canibe Chiefly I'd like to hear a third opinion from a scholarly person preferably someone who hails from Maldives,or has made significant contributions on its articles in this regard. Especially since nobody except User:SriSuren currently, has found a problem with the Tamil reference over the last 1000 edits on the article or more. I assume you'd intense the gravity of his actions here, he is simply so obsessed on for just the removal of just this particular line(precisely because it contains a Tamil affinity to it). Basically Etymology deals with various perspectives of a word and their history. It is absurd to quote that Maldives could have only been derived from Sanskrit. The literal English translation for Maladvipa is "Garland of Flowers", and the Tamil(Malaithivu) and Malayalam(Maladwipu) terms used here also simply mean "Garland of Flowers". This is the statement contained in the article, before User:SriSuren interfered with his POV discretely removing this content but retaining only the Sinhala translation.

User:SriSuren keeps on talking trash about the old source(which has been settled in my very first reply) and persistently attacking me with nonsensical accusations about my editing but is totally evasive on how this particular text(and with the source, which provides the accurate Tamil translation)

"Hogendorn theorises that the name Maldives derives from the Sanskrit mālādvīpa (मालाद्वीप), meaning "garland of islands". In Malayalam, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as Maladweepu (മാലദ്വീപ്). In Tamil, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as MalaiTheevu (மாலைத்தீவு)."

is supposedly 'WP:OR' or 'problematic'. Instead he simply rambles on accusing me of 'disruptive' editing, 3 vs 1 etc without explaining what exactly is in the text that needs to be modified. I have gone through his behavior in this talk page as well elsewhere, and I can see he has grossly abused these discussions, absolutely necessitating the need for Administrative action on his behavior, for disgracefully violating the TPGs. Almost all his edits(which have been consistently poised against the Tamil people in general need to be reviewed, and he needs to explain on what overall value he has added to wikipedia in his edits, except for adding/removing sensitive information that fulfills his whims) So perhaps, involvement of more editors to the issue will see through his low-down motives with which he edits, and the barbaric means he resorts to when he gets desperate. So I guess we let him do his course of job, as there is sadly not much room to deal with his uncivil and inflammatory behavior. -- CuCl2 (talk . contr . mail) 14:31, 8 August 2013 (UTC)


 * No one is suggesting that Maldives could have only been derived from Sanskrit - the Sanskrit derivation is the only backed up a source. If anyone can provide sources for other claims of derivation they are welcome to add them.-- obi2canibe talk contr 14:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

Edit request
Need to update that the President has already been elected.

27.114.166.39 (talk) 20:44, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Not done: please make your request in a "change X to Y" format. And remember to include a reliable source. Thanks, !!!!

cultural opression of atheism
People make jokes to atheist Maldivans. Some claim "well there is no god? and who made the Earth?" If you ask them "well there is god? spacetime cannot explode as a probabilistic wavefunction of zero alone or with parallel Universes?" the don't accept that some people may prefer scientific reasoning, because our schools do not teach about the scientific versions of Universal birth, they teach about astronomy but the avoid to teach that probabilistic birth. The claim we are 100% muslims, well I guess I am a mirragle, or an oression victim as many other fellow citizens.

As you may observe, many Wikipedia articles have a click-button or phonetic spelling for a country. A Google search allows finding how to pronounce Maldives. Here is one person's perplexiation: "Apr 23, 2008 - I'm going there for my honeymoon in July. Is it pronounced Maldeeeeeves or Maldiiiiives? It's really bugging me everytime I tell someone." Here is a Youtube version of an answer:. -- Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 12:05, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

Maldives or The Maldives Comment
The article is inconsistent in whether the name is used with or without a definite article the. More commonly, the article refers to the Maldives, but there are a few prominent places (such as the first paragraph) where the is omitted. I'm not suggesting inserting the into the title of the article, but shouldn't there be consistency within the article itself? FWIW, I've generally seen the Maldives in other places, but I don't have strong familiarity with this country or how it is referred to. AlbertBickford (talk) 15:23, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Maldives is in the Indian ocean-arabian sea, its not written in the wiki preview.
Please be noted that when I type in google it shows that maldives is in the indian ocean rather its in the arabian sea, as well as the indian ocean, we don't even see a single Buddhist or hindu in the Maldives so please change that & add arabian sea.

121.54.54.33 (talk) 13:48, 23 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Pictogram voting comment.svg Note: Note: This article is not Semi-Protected, so you can edit the article yourself, but please ensure that any additions are properly sourced, to reliable sources and you maintain a neutral point of view - Arjayay (talk) 13:53, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Population of Malé
According to the chart on this page, Malé has a population of 62,567. According the article about the city, the population is 153,379. Which number is closer to the actual population? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lefaid (talk • contribs) 17:27, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 September 2015
"It is located southwest of India and Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea." please CHANGE to "It is located southwest of India and Sri Lanka in the Arabian Sea."

Reason: Maldives is a 100% Muslim country, our script is written from right to left, after english the spoken language is Arabic.

121.54.54.129 (talk) 15:51, 18 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: It has nothing to do with religion or language. The body of water is called the Laccadive Sea. See Arabian Sea and check the boundaries. -- Sam Sailor Talk! 16:06, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 October 2015
Please Change ""Location of Maldives in the Indian Ocean" to "Location of Maldives in the Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea" because The countries with coastlines on the Arabian Sea are Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, India and the Maldives.

thank you sincerely citizen of the Maldives.

121.54.54.154 (talk) 11:14, 16 October 2015 (UTC)


 * ❌ as our Arabian Sea article states - "The Arabian Sea is a region of the northern Indian Ocean" so it is already covered. - Arjayay (talk) 14:09, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

Written pre-Islamic sources?
"The ancient Maldivian Kings promoted Buddhism, and the first Maldive writings and artistic achievements, in the form of highly developed sculpture and architecture, are from that period."

Apart from the fact that writings rarely take the form of sculpture let alone architecture, this text claims the absence of indigenous sources pre-12th century. It is "only" a Ph.D. thesis, but unless there is a more reliable citation supporting the claim of existence, the word "writings" might have to be removed. --Lieven Smits (talk) 13:12, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

Area!?!
The box sez:

Area • 	Total	298 km2 (206th) 115 sq mi • 	Water (%)	110%

Shirley shume mishtake? William M. Connolley (talk) 08:35, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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An error
(, Dhivehi Raa'jeyge Jumhooriyya Why is this broken?--Adûnâi (talk) 17:34, 23 November 2017 (UTC)

Maximum Altitude
There seems to be a considerable discrepancy between the Introduction of this article:

"With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level,[14] it is the world's lowest country, with even its highest natural point being the lowest in the world, at 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in)."

and the Villingili (Seenu Atoll) article:

"The island is also notable for having the highest natural elevation in the Maldives, Mount Villingili. It stands at a modest 5.1 metres (17 ft) and is located at tee number eight on Villingili’s Golf Course – the only golf course in the Maldives. Despite its humble height, it dwarfs over the previously known highest point on Addu Atoll that stands at only 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) above sea level."

Perhaps someone with firsthand knowledge can correct the article(s) as needed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RegulatorRectifier (talk • contribs) 21:51, 25 March 2018 (UTC)

Lowest Country
It seems to me, that in this article, it states that Tuvalu has a top elevation of 15 feet, while Maldives has a top elevation of 17 feet. However, it states that the Maldives are the lowest country. How can this be true? QuickyGaming (talk) 14:58, 2 March 2019 (UTC)QuickyGaming

Edit Request
Change the capital text to capital and largest city. Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 16:03, 6 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Where do you mean, ? It is described as the most populous city in the first mention of it in the article. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:44, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

In the Maldives page I mean Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 11:00, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Oh the first section, Capital Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 17:05, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Hi . It does already say in the lead section: "Malé is the capital and the most populated city". Laterthanyouthink (talk) 07:06, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Then no change, i am closing this discussion Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 08:33, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Discussion Text... Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 08:34, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Change the capital text to capital and largest city. Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 16:03, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

Where do you mean, Abdullah Al Manjur? It is described as the most populous city in the first mention of it in the article. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:44, 7 April 2020 (UTC) In the Maldives page I mean

Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 11:00, 7 April 2020 (UTC) Oh the first section, Capital Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 17:05, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Hi Abdullah Al Manjur. It does already say in the lead section: "Malé is the capital and the most populated city". Laterthanyouthink (talk) 07:06, 12 April 2020 (UTC) Then no change, i am closing this discussion

Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 08:33, 12 April 2020 (UTC) Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 08:36, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Keep it like it Abdullah Al Manjur (talk) 08:40, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

The 'Population by locality' sub-heading on the 'Demographics' should be removed
In my opinion, the 'Population by locality' sub-heading on the 'Demographics' tab should be removed if information is not added to it as in my opinion it is pointless having a sub-heading with no information under it.


 * There is a table under the heading. (And please remember to sign your comments using four tildes (~)). Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:12, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Food & Water
There are half a million people in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

What do they eat?

Where do you get water for 500,000 people?

How much fish is harvested? You mention some fish are exported.

You mention agricultural. How much land is used for agricultural? What do they grow?

Do they husband animals? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 45.2.59.133 (talk) 17:28, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 18:26, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Mosque of Hulhumalé.jpg

population size
Is the higher figure on https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/maldives/#people-and-society unreliable? --Espoo (talk) 15:41, 8 April 2021 (UTC)


 * On the contrary, that document gives a much lower figure (390,669) than everyone else. That appears to be the source for the information box which I've now corrected with the figure of 557,426 which appears elsewhere in the article and is referenced from the projected figures from 2014. That is not the best figure to rely on, but I can see no data that supports a precipitate decline in the population.
 * There is also the peculiar graph "Demographics of the Maldives, from 2000 to 2012" which claims that the population started to decline continuously in 2010 and has been on this page and the Demographics of the Maldives page since 2013. I know little about the Maldives but this also claims to be sourced from the CIA Factbook and seems equally suspect. Since UN and local figures are wildly different, I'm inclined to delete this graph from both pages, but would ask for opinions before doing so. Chris55 (talk) 20:40, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
 * This document from the Maldives Bureau of Statistics published by the UNFPA would seem to explain the discrepancy. It states the resident Maldavians numbered 339,761 in 2014 and projected 379,270 in 2020, but also says there were 97,774 resident foreigners in 2014, rising to 178,156 in 2020. It seems therefore the CIA figures are ignoring resident foreigners although this is not the normal practice. The lower figures (and graph) should therefore be removed. Chris55 (talk) 21:55, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 04:10, 2 October 2021 (UTC)
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