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Demographics of the Maldives

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Demographics of the Maldives

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Maldives, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Contents

Map of Maldives

Demography

The Maldives had one of the highest birth rates in the world. The result is that many islands have become overpopulated and are completely covered by homesteads. Hence the country is becoming less self-sufficient by the day.

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (21.03.2006) (Census) :

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) :

Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)

Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):

Ethnic groups

The largest ethnic group are Dhivehis, native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising today's Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India. They share the same culture and speak the Dhivehi language. They are principally an Indo-Aryan people, closely related to the Sinhalese having traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes in the population.

In the past there was also a small Tamil population known as the Giraavaru people. This group have now been almost completely absorbed into the larger Maldivian society but were once native to the island of Giraavaru (Kaafu Atoll). This island was evacuated in 1968 due to heavy erosion of the island.

Languages

Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language having some similarities with Elu, the ancient Sinhalese language and written in a specialized Arabic script (Tāna), is the official language and is spoken by virtually the whole population. English is also spoken as a second language by many.

Religion

Sunni Islam is the state religion. Historically, the Maldives were converted to Islam from Buddhism in the 12th century. Under the 1997 constitution, freedom of religion is limited, Islam being the only religion accepted in public. Consequently, the vast majority of population professes adherence to Islam, reported as 98.4% as of 2010.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

301,475 (July 2000 est.) - 369,031 (July 2007 est.)

Age structure

  • 0–14 years: 22.3% (male 45,038/female 43,291)
  • 15–64 years: 73.8% (male 180,874/female 171,703)
  • 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 7,711/female 7,717) (2010 est.)

    • Sex ratio

  • at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 1.09 male(s)/female
  • total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

    • Life expectancy at birth

  • total population: 62.2 years (2000 est.) - 64.76 years (2007 est.)
  • male: 61.05 years (2000 est.) - 63.41 years (2007 est.)
  • female: 63.4 years (2000 est.) - 66.19 years (2007 est.)

    • Nationality

  • noun: Maldivian(s)
  • adjective: Maldivian

    • Literacy

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 96.3%
  • male: 96.2%
  • female: 96.4% (2000 census)

    • Education

    The average Maldivian citizen has 4.7 years of education

    References

    Demographics of the Maldives Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA