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MALDIVE ISLANDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 486 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MALDIVE ISLANDS , an See also:

archipelago of See also:coral islets in the See also:Indian Ocean, forming a See also:chain between 7° 6' N. and o° 42' S. It consists of seventeen atolls with an immense number of islands, of which some three See also:hundred are inhabited. In the extreme See also:south are the isolated atolls of Addu and Fua-Mulaku, separated from Suvadiva by the See also:Equatorial Channel, which is itself separated from the See also:main chain of atolls by One-and-ahalf-degree Channel.' Following the chain northward from this channel we have Haddumati and Kolumadulu, after which the chain becomes See also:double: to the See also:east the See also:chief atolls are Mulaku, Felidu, South Male, See also:North Male, Kardiva (where the channel of the same name, 35 M. broad, partly breaks the chain), and Fadiffolu. To the See also:west are South Nilandu, North Nilandu, See also:Ari, South Mahlos, North Mahlos and Miladumadulu. To the north again are Tiladumati and Ihavandifulu. Finally, to the north of Eight-degree Channel is Minikoi, 71 M. from the nearest point of the Maldives, and See also:Ito m. from that of the Laccadives to the north. The main See also:part of the archipelago, north of One-anda-See also:half-degree Channel, consists of a See also:series of See also:banks either surrounded or studded all over with reefs (see J. S. See also:Gardiner, " Formation of the Maldives," in See also:Geographical Journ. xix. 277 seq.). Mr Gardiner regarded these banks as plateaus rising to different elevations beneath the See also:surface of the See also:sea from a main See also:plateau rising steeply from the See also:great depths of the Indian Ocean. After the Portuguese, from about 1518 onwards, had at-tempted many times to establish themselves on the islands by force, and after the Maldivians had endured frequent raids by the Mopla pirates of the See also:Malabar See also:coast, they began to send tokens of See also:homage and claims of See also:protection (the first recorded being in 1645) to the rulers of See also:Ceylon, and their association with this See also:island has continued practically ever since.

The hereditary See also:

sultan of the archipelago is tributary to the See also:British See also:government of Ceylon. The See also:population of the Maidives is estimated at 30,000. All are Mahommedans. By Messrs. Gardiner and See also:Cooper they are classed in four ethnological divisions. (I) Those of the atolls north of the Kardiva Channel. Here the reefs are generally less perfect than elsewhere, seldom forming See also:complete central lagoons, and as they were formerly exposed to the See also:constant attacks of the Mopla pirates from See also:India, the See also:people are hardier and more vigorous than their less warlike See also:southern neighbours. They annually visited the coasts of India or Ceylon, and often married Indian wives, thus acquiring distinct racial characters of an approximately See also:Dravidian type. (2) Those of the central See also:division, comprising the atolls between North Male and Haddumati, who are under the See also:direct See also:rule of the sultan, and have been more exposed to Arab influences. They formerly traded with See also:Arabia and Malaysia, and many See also:Arabs settled amongst them, so that they betray a strong See also:strain of Semitic See also:blood in their features. (3 and 4) The natives of Suvadiva, Addu, Mulaku and the other southern clusters, who have had little communication with the Central Male people, and probably preserve more of the See also:primitive type, approximating in See also:appearance- to the Sinhalese villagers of Ceylon. They are an intelligent and industrious people, growing their own crops, manufacturing their own See also:cloth and mats, and See also:building their own boats, while many read Arabic more or less fluently, although still believers in magic and See also:witchcraft.

The See also:

language is a See also:dialect of Sinhalese, but indicating a separation of See also:ancient date and more or less mahommedanized. The sultan's See also:residence and the See also:capital of the archipelago is the island of Male. From the earliest notices the See also:production of See also:coir, the collection of cowries, and the See also:weaving of excellent textures on these islands have been noted. The chief exports of the islands besides coir and cowries (a decreasing See also:trade) are coco-nuts, See also:copra, See also:tortoise-See also:shell and dried bonito-See also:fish. ' These and other channels in the locality are named from their position under See also:parallels of See also:latitude. Minikoi See also:atoll, with the numerous wrecks on its reefs, its See also:light-See also:house, and its position on the track of all eastward-See also:bound vessels, is a See also:familiar sight to seafarers in these See also:waters. The atoll, which is See also:pear-shaped and disposed in the direction from S.W. to N.E. is 5 M. See also:long, with an extreme breadth of nearly 3 m., with a large but shallow See also:lagoon approached from the north by a passage two fathoms deep. The atoll is growing out-wards on every See also:side, and at one See also:place rises 19 ft. above sea-level. The population, which See also:numbers about 3000, is sharply divided into five castes, of which the three highest are pure Maldivians, the See also:lower two the same as in the Laccadives. All are centred in a small See also:village opposite Mou Rambu Point on the west or lagoon side; but most of the men are generally absent; many being employed with the See also:Lascar crews on See also:board the large liners plying in the eastern seas. In 1899–1900 Messrs. J.

See also:

Stanley Gardiner and C. See also:Forster Cooper carried out an expedition to the Maldives and Laccadives, for the important results of which see The See also:Fauna and See also:Geography of the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes, ed. J. S. Gardiner (See also:Cambridge, 1901–1905), also Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. xi. pt. r (1900), and the Geographical Journ., loc. cit., &c. A See also:French adventurer, See also:Francois Pyrard de la Val, was wrecked in the Maldives in 1602 and detained there five years; he wrote an interesting See also:account of the archipelago, Voyage de F. P. de la Val (See also:Paris, 1679; previous See also:editions 1611, &c.). See also A. See also:Agassiz, "An Expedition to the Maldives "See also:min Amer. Journ. See also:Science, vol. xiii. (1902).

End of Article: MALDIVE ISLANDS

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