Southern Asia · MDV
Maldives
The story · 9 chapters
How it was drawn
A chain of coral atolls, Buddhist and then for eight centuries a sultanate, which drove out Portuguese and Malabar invaders, became a British protectorate in 1887 and has been independent since 1965.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Maldives fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Chola Empire985 to 1014
Inscriptions of the Chola king Rajaraja I, who ruled from 985 to 1014, boast of conquering 'the old islands of the sea numbering twelve thousand', usually taken to mean the Maldives.
- Portuguese Empire1558 to 1573
The Portuguese occupy Male from 1558, after killing the sultan, until Muhammad Thakurufaanu and his brothers drive them out in 1573, a victory marked every year as National Day.
- Ali Rajas of Cannanore1752 to 1753
Forces of the Ali Raja of Cannanore, a Muslim dynasty on the Malabar coast of India, seize Male in 1752 and hold it for a few months before a Maldivian nobleman drives them out.
- British Empire1887 to 1965
Britain makes the islands a protectorate in 1887 and runs their foreign affairs. Its air base on Gan, kept after the war, becomes a source of tension with Male and a factor in the southern secession of 1959.
- United Suvadive Republic1959 to 1963
The three southernmost atolls reject rule from Male and form their own republic. Government expeditions end it by 1963, and its president, Abdullah Afeef, leaves for exile in the Seychelles.
- PLOTE mercenaries1988
About eighty fighters of PLOTE, a Sri Lankan Tamil group, land in Male in November 1988 to overthrow President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Indian paratroopers defeat them within hours.
- Mauritius2019 to 2023
Mauritius and the Maldives both claim the waters where their zones meet around the Chagos Islands. A special chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea divides the overlapping area in April 2023.
Today
Maldives now
A sultanate since the 12th century, the Maldives became a British protectorate in 1887 and a republic in 1968, three years after independence. President Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM dominated Maldives' political scene for 30 years, elected to six successive terms by single-party referendums.
- Capital
- Malé
- Government
- presidential republic
- Head of government
- Mohamed Muizzu
- Languages
- Maldivian
- Area
- 300 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population526,0002023 · 74,500 in 1950
- Life expectancy81.0 years2023 · 36.5 years in 1950
- Living in cities43%2025 · 11% in 1950
- Literacy98%2019 · 73% in 1950
- Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Saudi Arabia
- India
- China
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.