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Maldives
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<p>Although home to just over half a million people the Maldives has its own unique culture and traditions. While heavily influenced by various cultures around the rim of the Indian Ocean, the Maldivian culture, craft and traditions have been shaped by the island environment and the seas that surround us.</p>
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<p><strong>PEOPLE</strong></p> <p>While very little is known about the ancient history of the Maldives scholars and historians believe that the Maldives is an old nation populated well over 2500 years ago. The Maldivian race is the result of several waves of settlement from various parts of the Indian subcontinent and thousands of years of interactions of people of different races and ethnicities that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean over several centuries. The Maldivian language is Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language with its origins in Sanskrit.</p> <p>The most recent census in 2014 enumerated the population at 407,660 people. A third of the population lives in Male’, while the rest live in 200 islands scattered across the length of the country.</p> <p>The livelihood of Maldivians traditionally depended on the seas, fishery being the main source of stapple food. As fishery contributes significantly to the economy in terms of employment and income, apart tourism is the other main source of income for the Maldivian economy today.</p> <p><strong>CULTURE</strong></p> <p>Although home to just over half a million people the Maldives has its own unique culture and traditions. While heavily influenced by various cultures around the rim of the Indian Ocean, the Maldivian culture, craft and traditions have been shaped by the island environment and the seas that surround us.</p> <p>Dhivehi is the language of the Maldivian people. Maldivians current script, Thaana is unique and was developed from Arabic numerals around the 16th century. Maldivians are master boat builders. The traditional Maldivian boat, dhoni has been shaped over centuries, resulting in a craft that perfectly suits the various conditions of the seas.</p> <p><strong>FOOD</strong></p> <p>Being a tourist hotspot aside from Indian and Maldivian options, one can enjoy food styles from across the globe. Traditional Maldivian cuisine is based on coconuts, fish, and starches. Some of the common seafood forming part of the local cuisine includes Skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, frigate tuna and wahoo. Given the proximity, one does find a strong Indian influence and hence an abundance of curries and other flavours and spices. </p> <p><strong>CLOTHING</strong></p> <p>Cotton clothes suits well with the hot tropical climate of the Maldives. Tourist are expected to respect local culture and dress modestly when visiting or staying on inhabited islands. Sandals are ideal, as you may often want to slip them off and go barefoot.</p>
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