Maldives
nformation on the archipelago of the Maldives
The Maldives with its turquoise lagoons, clear waters, its small, low islands planted with coconut trees, white sand beaches and seabed are incredibly rich image of tropical paradise, the dream trip and stay heavenly. Since opening its doors to tourism in the 1970s, this archipelago has lost established a strong reputation in the field trips and class holiday at the point of becoming a major tourist destination in the Indian Ocean.
The Maldives, a paradise destination travel
The Maldives is located southwest of India. It consists of 1,200 islands spread over 800 km along a north-south direction. This is coral islands grouped in rings called atolls. Following the generally accepted theory, the result of atolls development of corals around since ancient volcanoes marine collapsed. These paradise islands for foreigners are quite poor and their people live mainly from artisanal fisheries and tourism.
On the myriad of islands grouped into 19 administrative atolls, only 200 are inhabited, including 110 by Maldivians and 90 by tourists. Yep, a peculiarity of this country is to have created a segregation between locals and foreign travelers. This is officially protect Maldivians bad western influences and avoid a culture shock. In the Maldives, tourists are herded on resorts (tourist resort island) and can be mired in local Malé, the capital or while visiting the islands of regulated sinners. It is the same for Maldivians who can not go on resorts with the exception of staff of these resorts. This surprising situation can be explained in the unique geography of the archipelago. It is true that when we discover that there is a capital island, an island airport, an island tanker, garbage island, an island school, an island picnic, an island of the President, an island chicken farm ( Kanduoiyigiri), islands prison (Doonidhoo, Gaamaadhoo) ...
So why not islands to tourists?
Another feature of this republic is to be the country the world's thinnest. Each atoll resorts to having the highest summit of the archipelago, but hey it should not exceed 2.50 meters above sea level Because of global warming some scientists predict its demise in this century. The December 2004 tsunami is there to confirm their statements, because if the casualties were low, almost all of the archipelago has been submerged for several hours and a dozen islands had to be abandoned by the population and reported unfit for human habitation.
The seasons, temperature, sunshine and rainfall for Maldives Islands
Sun, rain and temperature in the Maldives The Maldives are located just above the equator, where a fairly constant temperature of 28 ° C throughout the year (minimum 24 ° and 31 ° max) and a climate influenced by monsoons.
The best time is that which corresponds to the dry monsoon (Iruvai), from January to April. This is high season, the hottest, with bright sunshine, little rain, no wind, a sea of oil and translucent water.
From May, it is spoiled with the arrival of quite violent winds of the southwest that bring clouds and rain, it's called wet monsoon (hulhangu) which peaks between August and November.
The inter-monsoon is characterized by a cloudy sky often with grains between the sun, or sometimes the sun between the grains.
The dollar, the euro, the Rufiyaa and the "shell money"
Maldivian Rupee 
Porcelain cowries The currency of Maldives is called the Maldivian Rufiyaa or rupee (MVR). It is pegged to the U.S. dollar following a fixed rate of 12.75 rufiyaas for $ 1. The division is called Laari. If the dollar is king, the euro (ticket only) is accepted without question in Male and the islands by fishermen, however, careful to change.
If you look closely at the notes Maldivian (click the left image), you will notice at the bottom of a strange shell. This is a cowrie (Cypraea moneta). This small porcelain mass, irregular, whitish worth of gold in a time not so long ago. It's her who was called "shell money" and for centuries the Maldives were considered the bank throughout the Indian Ocean and parts of Africa. It is found in large quantities on beaches and atolls formerly gathered in the Maldivian entire bags that were exported to India, Siam, Arabia and East Africa. This trade lasted for 700 years before going off with the arrival of the "coinage" now, certainly more convenient, but it lost much of its charm ...
During your walk on the islands of sinners, browse the beaches in search of these cowries and pick the "currency of the islands" to feel the sweet thrill of finally being a millionaire, but ... in ancient times!
The Dhivehi and Thaana
The Thaana Maldivian language (Dhivehi or Divehi) is derived from Indo-Aryan languages. It has its origins in the Sinhalese and Tamil, but has been influenced by Arabic, Portuguese and English. The name of the Maldives in Dhivehi Dhivehi is Raajje, meaning "island kingdom". A word of this language has been in the international language, it is of atolu who gave to designate these atoll coral reefs typical of the country.
The alphabet and writing are called the Dhivehi Thaana. It is written from right to left and looks like a series of lines, dots and embellishments very aesthetic, but very confusing for us Westerners.
Maldivian small lexicon for use by the diver
Some terms Maldivian (Dhivehi):
Thila, giri, Fern, fushi - Thila: submerged reef sufficiently to allow boats to pass safely over
- Giri: shallow submerged reef or outcropping, which is a hazard to boats
- Faru long sand island in the short vegetation located on the outside of the atoll
- Finolhu: big island with a few coconut trees
- Fushi: big island with lots of coconut trees
- Kandu: Channel (pass) between two coral atolls or 2
