Maldives

马累  Malé (/ˈmɑːleɪ/, locally [ˈmɑːlɛ]; Dhivehi: މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was then called Mahal.^[5] Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates (doroshi). The Royal Palace (Gan'duvaru) was destroyed along with the picturesque forts (koshi) and bastions (buruzu) when the city was remodelled under President Ibrahim Nasir's rule in the aftermath of the abolition of the monarchy in 1968. However, the Malé Friday Mosque remains. In recent years, the island has been considerably expanded through land-filling operations.The central island is heavily urbanized, with the built-up area taking up essentially its entire landmass.^[6] Slightly less than one third of the nation's population lives in the capital city, and the population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to 100,000 people in 2006. Many Maldivians and foreign workers living in other parts of the country find themselves in occasional short term residence on the island since it is the centre of administration and bureaucracy.
- The whole island group, the Maldives, is named after its capital. The word "Maldives" means "the islands (dives) of Malé". The first settlers in the Maldivian islands were Dravidian people^[8] who arrived from the neighboring shores of the modern Indian Subcontinent and coastal Ceylon. Comparative studies of Maldivian linguistic, oral, and other cultural traditions, in addition to folklore, point to a strong Dravidian influence on Maldivian society, centered in Malé, from ancient times. The Giraavaru people of Giraavaru claim descent from the first Tamil settlers of the Maldives. It is said that early Tamil settlers called the islands Malaitivu, which means Garland Islands or Chain Islands. According to regional lore, Giraavaru fishermen used to go regularly to a certain large sandbank (finolhu) at the southern end of their atoll to clean tuna fish after a good catch. Owing to the large amount of tuna fish offal and blood, the waters around that sandbank looked like a big pool of blood ("maa ley gandeh":  maa" (from the Sanskrit मह "maha", meaning big, and "lē" blood). Traditionally the first inhabitants of the Maldives, which include the Giravaru people, didn't have kings. They lived in a simple society and were ruled by local headmen. However, one day, a prince from the subcontinent called Koimala arrived in the Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship. The people of Giraavaru spotted his vessel from afar and welcomed him. They allowed Prince Koimala to settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the waters tainted with fish blood. Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is said that the first tree that grew on it was the papaya tree. (However, this could refer to any tree that bears edible fruit as the archaic Dhivehi word, and Mahal word in modern times, for fruit (falhoa) was the same as that for the papaya.^[10]) As time went by, the local islanders accepted the rule of this Northern Prince. A palace was built and the island was formally named Maa-le (Malé), while the nearest island was named Hulhu-le.The names of the main four wards or divisions of Malé Island are said to have been given by the original Giraavaru fishermen: Maafannu from maa (big) and fannu (a place where a village path meets the sea), Henveiru from en-beyru (out where fishermen got their bait), Galolhu from galu-olhu (stone groove) and, Macchangolhi from mathi-angolhi (windward path-fork). In early foreign sources, Malé was called Ambria or Mahl. For the Maldivians, it was Fura Malé, i.e. "Malé the Pre-Eminent". When Ibn Battouta traveled to Malé in 1343, he provided a rather extensive description of the city as well as the Islands of the Maldives overall. He mentioned that the Queen, Reendi Khadeeja, had a residence in Malé, which from its description may be assimilated to the same palace of the later sultan rulers, in the centre of the island. Within the palace compounds, several pits contained stores of cowrie shells, ready to be traded. Ibn Battouta also mentioned several mosques, built in wood. Malé was fortified in the 17th century by the sultan Muhammad Imaduddin, who built walls on the north, east and west side of the island. 

Company
- Trans Maldivian Airways (Pvt) Ltd. (TMA) is a private airline headquartered on the grounds of Velana International Airport in Malé, Maldives. Operating out of Velana International Airport, TMA is the oldest air transfer operator operating in the country, providing seaplane transfer services to a large number of tourist resorts. TMA currently operates the world's largest seaplane fleet.^[2] And as of 2016, December it operates out of Gan International Airport, servicing resorts in Addu, and Huvadhu Atoll.The airline was founded in 1989 as Hummingbird Island Helicopters by pilot Kit Chambers. 

• 腾邦集团旗下的腾邦国际、腾邦汭疆，联合股权投资基金贝恩资本和目标公司管理团队组成的财团，日前以五亿美元（约33亿元人民币）收购全球最大的水上飞机公司─马尔代夫TMA集团。交易完成后，联合财团将持有TMA集团100%股权。腾邦旅游董事长王淑杰表示，腾邦旅游早已布局马尔代夫旅游市场，看好包机航线“大交通”与水上飞机“小交通”之间的协同。TMA集团原来由国际著名私募股权基金黑石集团所有，资料显示，交易完成后，A股上市公司腾邦国际通过其海外全资子公司收购目标公司近5%的股权，香港主板上市公司腾邦控股则通过设立的美元基金TBRJ合计持有近15%的股权。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20171219/PDF/b4_screen.pdf

- Maldives Industrial Fisheries Co Ltd www.mifco.com.mv (participated in HK seafood expo 2014)

people
- Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (Dhivehi: މައުމޫން އަބްދުލް ގައްޔޫމް; born December 29, 1937), is a Maldivian politician and an Islamic scholar who ruled the country as the President of Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Transport, he was nominated as President by the Majlis (Parliament) of the Maldives and succeeded Ibrahim Nasir in 1978. He was defeated in the October 2008 presidential election. However, in September 2011, he returned to Maldivian politics as the leader of the newly formed Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), whose candidate Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, Maumoon's half-brother, was victorious in the 2013 presidential elections. In July 2016, Maumoon due to disagreements between president Yameen and Maumoon, the party split into two factions. Later in October 27, Maumoon withdrew his support for president Yameen and joined the Maldives United Opposition. Gayoom was arrested on 5 February 2018, for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government along his son-in-law Moamed Nadheem.

• Mamoon Abdul Gayoom is the son of Abdul Gayoom Ibrahim (Maafaiygey Dhon Seedhi) and Khadheeja Moosa. His father had 25 children from 8 wives. He is the 11th child of his family. He spent most of his youth in Egypt. He was part of a group of 15 students chosen at the initiative of Mohamed Amin Didi to get an education abroad. At the age of 10, in 1947, he embarked for Egypt. However, because of the troubles which led to the Arab-Israeli war of 1948–1949, his layover in Ceylon, scheduled to last several days, lasted for two and a half years during which he studied at theBuona Vista College, Galle and at Royal College, Colombo.

- Mohamed Nasheed, GCSK (Dhivehi: މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު; born 17 May 1967) is a Maldivian politician, human rights and environmental activist, who served as the fourth President of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012.^[1][2] He was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party. In the 2008 presidential election, Nasheed was elected as the candidate of the first opposition coalition defeating President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had ruled the Maldives as President for 30 continuous years. Nasheed assumed office on 11 November 2008. On 7 February 2012, Nasheed resigned as president under disputed circumstances, following weeks of protests by the opposition, which had then been joined by a majority of military and police forces. The next day Nasheed stated that he had been forced to resign "at gunpoint" by police and army officers,^[4] and that the protesters had joined with "powerful networks" of Gayoom loyalists to force his resignation in a coup d'état.^[5] Nasheed's successor, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who had been a 2003 political appointee of President Maumoon Gayoom, denied these claims and stated that the transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional. The Maldives' Commission of National Inquiry reported that it had found no evidence to support Nasheed's version of events.

• Nasheed was born in Malé, Maldives, to a middle-class family. He attended Majeediyya School in Maldives between 1971 and 1981. He continued his secondary school education at Colombo International School in Sri Lanka from 1981 to 1982 until he completed his GCE O Levels. In August 1982 he moved to England, where he completed his higher secondary education at Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire.^[11]Straight after his GCE A Levels, Nasheed moved north to Liverpool, where he spent the next three years reading in maritime studies at Liverpool Polytechnic (later Liverpool John Moores University), graduating in 1989. Nasheed was held in prison for an article in the political magazine Sangu, published in 1991, alleging the government had rigged the 1989 General election. He was named an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience in 1991.^[13] He has stated that he was tortured while in detention, including being chained to a chair outside for 12 days and forced to eat food containing crushed glass. He was later alleged by the government, to have withheld information about a bombing plot. On 8 April 1992, he was sentenced to three years in prison on that charge.^[15] He was released in June 1993, then re-arrested in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for an article he had written about the 1993 and 1994 Maldivian elections, and was again designated a prisoner of conscience.
• Exiled Maldives opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed on Monday (Jan 22) accused China of seizing land in the politically-troubled Indian Ocean archipelago and undermining its sovereignty. Nasheed said Chinese interests had leased at least 16 islets among the 1,192 scattered coral islands and were building ports and other infrastructure there. The 50-year-old former president said the increased Chinese presence could threaten the Muslim-majority nation of 340,000 and the wider Indian Ocean region.http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/exiled-maldives-leader-accuses-china-of-land-grab

- Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik (Dhivehi: ޑރ. މުޙައްމަދު ވަޙީދު ޙަސަން މަނިކު; born 3 January 1953) was the 5th President of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, after the disputed resignation of the 4th President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed. He has worked as a news anchor, a United Nations official with UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO, and a member of the Maldivian Parliament. Waheed was the first citizen of the Maldives to receive a Ph.D., having received it at Stanford University in the U.S., and reportedly the first person to appear on Maldivian television. He was Vice President of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012.Waheed was born to Hassan Ibrahim Maniku and Aishath Moosa. He was the first of ten children. President Waheed attended the American University of Beirut for four years, studying for two of those years in the midst of the Lebanese civil war; completing a bachelor's degree in English Language as well as a diploma in teaching. By 1976, President Waheed returned home to the Maldives, and took up a post teaching the Language at Jamaaludheen School in Male’ (the capital of the Maldives). President Waheed taught many students who would become highly influential members of Maldivian society both in the Government, as well as in the private sector. Among his students is the popular television comedian Yoosuf Rafeeu (commonly known as Yoosay), along with members of the government such as the former Executive Secretary to the Parliament Abdullah Shahid. President Waheed also taught many senior civil servants such as the current Elections Commissioner and the Minister for Presidential Affairs Mohammed Hussein. During this time, President Waheed also helped develop the first English language curriculum in Maldivian schools.
- Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom (Dhivehi: އަބްދުﷲ ޔާމީން އަބްދުލް ގައްޔޫމް; born 21 May 1959) is the Maldivian President of the Maldives since 2013.^[1][2] He is the half-brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.After completing primary and secondary schooling in Majeedhiyya School in Malé, Yameen obtained a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Later, he obtained a master's degree in Public Policy from the Claremont Graduate School in Los Angeles, California. During the presidency of his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Yameen worked as a community organizer in Manchchangolhi Ward in the capital Malé. He was appointed as Minister of Trade and Industries in November 1993. In addition to his services as the Minister of Trade and Industries (and later as the Minister of Trade, Industries and Labour), Yameen also served as the Minister of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security and later, as the Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation in the cabinet of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who is Yameen's half-brother. From 1990 to 2005, Yameen was involved with the State Trading Organisation (STO), where he served as chairman. Allegations of corruption during his tenure at the STO which may have led to millions of dollars in personal gain for Yameen, have surfaced in the last decade.^[6][7] Yameen also served as the Chairman of the Island Aviation Services (IAS) and held the post of Vice Chairman of the Addu Development Authority.

• 亞明在位期間並非一帆風順，二○一五年九月二十八日，他從沙特阿拉伯朝聖回國，在機場乘坐快艇返回首都馬累時，快艇突然爆炸。當局指炸彈放在總統專用座位下，但亞明剛巧沒坐在該處，幸免於難。時任副總統阿迪布被指是幕後黑手，出訪回國後被捕及彈劾。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180207/00180_004.html

- Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor (Dhivehi: އަހުމަދު އަދީބު އަބްދުލް ޤަފޫރު; born 11 April 1982) is a Maldivian politician who briefly served as Vice President of Maldives in 2015. Prior to his appointment on 22 July 2015, he served as the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Ahmed Adeeb was born and raised in Male' City. Adeeb is the son of Abdul Ghafoor Adam and Shaheema Mohamed. Ahmed Adeeb attended the Majeediyya School for his primary education before receiving his degree from Staffordshire University in 2007. He received his Master of Business Administration Degree from Edith Cowan University in 2008. Adeeb began his career in 2001 at Maldives Customs Services. After graduating in 2008 he started work as the Chief Operating Officer at Millennium Capital Holdings Pvt Ltd, before he got elected as the Treasurer of Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) the same year. He was later elected as President of the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) in 2011. Adeeb stepped into the national spotlight in 2009 as a young academic discussing various economic issues relating to the government. He became the fifth Vice President of Maldives on 22 July 2015.Ahmed Adeeb married Fathimath Liusha in 2006 and belongs to an affluent family in Male’. His wife has been pillar of strength to him even before his political career. Together, they have two children, a son and a daughter.

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-politician-india/maldives-police-arrest-ex-vice-president-after-india-denies-entry-idUSKCN1UT05X Maldives police on Saturday said they had arrested former vice-president Ahmed Adeeb and were bringing him to the capital Male after he was refused entry to India. Adeeb, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Maldives’ then-president Abdulla Yameen, was detained early on Thursday in the southern Indian city of Thoothukudi after arriving illegally by tugboat. “We would like to confirm that Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor of H. Saamaraa has been arrested and is being transported to Male under our custody,” Maldives police said in a Twitter post. An Indian port official in Thoothukudi said Adeeb had been sent back to the Maldives late on Friday on a boat escorted by a coast guard vessel.

- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (popularly known by the nickname Ibu) is a Maldivian politician^[1]who is the President-elect of the Maldives, due to take office on 17 November 2018, after having defeated incumbent Abdulla Yameen in the 2018 presidential election. He was first elected to parliament in 1994, aged 30, as the MP from his home atoll of Faadhihpolhu (Lhaviyani). Solih played a leading role in the formation of the Maldivian Democratic Party^[2] (MDP) and the Maldives Political Reform Movement from 2003 until 2008, which led to the country adopting a new modern constitution and multiparty democracy for the first time in its history. Solih was also a senior member of parliament^[3] and the Special Majlis.Solih was born on Hinnavaru Island but moved to the Maldives' capital island of Male' at a young age for education, and he has been a resident since. He is one of 13 children. He is married to Fazna Ahmed and they have a daughter named Sarah (23) and a son named Yaman (21). Solih is one of the closest friends of former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is also the first cousin of Solih's wife Fazna. Solih and President Nasheed played an instrumental role in establishing multiparty democracy in the Maldives. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been a senior figure in the party and lead the first Parliamentary Group of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in 2009.

unrest in 2018
- Maldives police have arrested the country's chief justice of the Supreme Court as a political crisis worsens in the Indian Ocean nation. Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, were arrested hours after the government declared a state of emergency. No details were given about the investigation or any charges. The turmoil began when President Abdulla Yameen refused to obey a court order to release political dissidents. The opposition have called the government moves a "purge" and there has been international condemnation. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42955132 
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-politics-emergency/maldives-president-lifts-state-of-emergency-after-45-days-idUSKBN1GY0RD

Commonwealth
- https://www.ft.com/content/03606686-91b3-11e6-a72e-b428cb934b78 The Indian Ocean archipelago, a favourite destination for high-end tourism, issued a statement on Thursday night saying it was leaving the organisation, which had threatened to suspend it. The Commonwealth is a 53-nation body composed mostly of former British colonies. “Regrettably, the Commonwealth has not recognised progress and achievements that the Maldives accomplished in cultivating a culture of democracy in the country and in building and strengthening democratic institutions,” the Maldives foreign ministry said.

india
- The Maldives asking India to take back its military helicopters and personnel deployed there reflects the country's "increasing desire to rid itself of the excessive Indian influence", Chinese state media has said. 

Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/65386989.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced $1.4 billion financial assistance to Maldives after he held extensive talks with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during which both sides vowed to deepen security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. The two countries also inked four pacts, including one on visa facilitation.  Read more at:

//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67126297.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

China
- FTA

• 中國—馬爾 代夫自貿區聯合可行性 研究第一次工作組會議 4 日至 5日在馬爾代夫首都 馬累召開，這標誌着雙 邊自貿區建設進程正式 啟動。http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2015/02/06/a21-0206.pdf
• http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20150910/PDF/a9_screen.pdf 中馬經貿聯委會第二次會議8日在馬爾代夫庫倫巴島召開。會後，雙方共同簽署了啟動中馬自由貿易協定談判的諒解備忘錄。會議由中國商務部副部長高燕和馬爾代夫經濟發展部長穆罕默德．薩伊德共同主持，中馬雙方就擴大雙邊貿易投資、啟動中馬自貿區談判、加強基礎設施領域建設、推進人力資源合作等議題深入地交換了意見，達成廣泛共識。
• 中国商务部16日宣布与马尔代夫结束双边自贸协定谈判。至此，中国自贸区布局在南亚再下一城。根据协定，中马两国间95%以上的货物贸易产品将实现零关税。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20170917/PDF/a8_screen.pdf
• 中國持續在南亞展示軟實力，馬爾代夫內閣日前火速通過與中國簽署自由貿易協定，總統亞明也隨即簽字，速度之快震驚印度。印媒形容這是敲響警鐘，又指中國正協助巴基斯坦在印巴邊境興建軍事圍牆，中巴合力抗印。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20171203/00178_005.html

- 習近平邀馬參建海上絲路http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20140915/PDF/a7_screen.pdf, http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2014/09/15/a07-0915.pdf, http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20140916/PDF/a6_screen.pdf

• 據新華社報道，中國國家主席習近平昨日在人民大會堂同來華進行國事訪問的馬爾代夫總統亞明舉行會談。會談後，兩國元首共同見證了《中華人民共和國政府和馬爾代夫共和國政府關於共同推進「一帶一路」建設的諒解備忘錄》。http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2017/12/08/a2019-1208.pdf

- president eyes infrastructure in maldives http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014xisco/2014-09/16/content_18602786.htm, http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2014/09/16/a08-0916.pdf, http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1593453/maldives-supports-chinas-plan-maritime-silk-road
- fear that China will take advantage of revised law to allow foreign land ownership to establish military base hkej 5aug15 a15
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/China-may-build-port-in-southern-Maldives/articleshow/51771171.cms despite Maldives's stated 'India First' policy, China will remain the elephant in the room when PM Narendra Modi seeks to address the issue of political instability in the archipelago in a meeting with visiting President Abdulla Yameen on Monday. While the meeting will come days after inauguration of construction work for a Chinese-funded expansion of the international airport, more worrying for India are reports that the Maldives could allow China to build a port in the southern part of the country - in Laamu atoll - directly impinging India's interests in the Indian Ocean region.
- aviation

• http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-03/15/content_28559977.htm Zongshen Group, a manufacturer of generators and engines, plans to purchase a stake in the biggest seaplane airline in the Maldives this year, in an expansion aimed at becoming the world's No 1 operator of the aircraft, Chairman Zuo Zongshen said. The company proposes to spend "billions of yuan" to buy into the Maldivian carrier, Zuo said, without elaborating. The group, based in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, is also in talks to acquire a stake in Kenmore Air, a firm that operates seaplanes for scenic tours in the Seattle area.

- friendship bridge

• http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-08/31/c_137431709.htm The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the first cross-sea bridge in the Maldives, opened to traffic on Thursday evening.

Hong kong
- The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced today (6 May 2016) that Hong Kong will soon commence Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (Note 1) negotiations with maldives