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Maldives at a glance
(maldivesembassy.cn/wikipedia.org)
Updated: 2009-08-19 13:48

For centuries the Maldives remained a Sultanate and in 1887 the Maldives became a British protectorate. Its first Republican form of Government was established in 1952 but the sultanate was restored in 1954.

Maldives at a glance
However, in 1968 as a result of a referendum a republic was established again in the Maldives, which had already signed the declaration of independence with the British on 26 July 1965.

Economy

The Maldivian economy has grown consistently at a very impressive pace over the last two decades. Annual GDP growth has averaged 7.4 percent over the last 10 years, while inflation has been maintained at modest levels.

In recent years the economy of Maldives has been mainly based on tourism and fishing. Among this the main source of income is tourism industry. In 2006 the GDP of the country was US$907 million. The economy although small and largely dependent on just two key sectors has proven to be very resilient to external shocks. Tsunami of 2004 caused damages of US$375 million which excludes the US$100 million in damages to the resorts. Since then Maldivian economy has made a remarkable recovery.

Over the years Maldives has received economic assistance from various multilateral development organizations such as UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN bodies as well as individual donors.

Maldives at a glance
In 1971 the United Nations (UN) categorized and compiled a list of countries which are least developed and deserving special attention by donor countries. Maldives was included in that list in 1971. Maldives enjoyed significant development assistance received by various donors until 1980s. However, as per capita income increased the economy improved and in 1997 Maldives became eligible for graduation from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

In order to graduate smoothly and not disrupt two decades of sustained progress Maldives requested the UN to delay the graduation. Accordingly, the UN formulated a framework with three years transition period for the smooth transition of graduating countries and decided to delay the graduation of Maldives until 2008. The decision was reconsidered after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. At present the transition period ends in 2010.