This is a

demography Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

of the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

, including

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population estimates of Maldives

Largest cities or towns of Maldives (2012)

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Registered births and deaths

Structure of the population

Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)

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

Geographical differences

The

total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

differs greatly from as low as 2.05 children per woman in

Malé Malé (, ; dv, މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 252,768 and an area of , it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern ...

to a maximum of 3.88 children in Faafu.

Life expectancy at birth

Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''

Ethnic groups

The largest ethnic group is Dhivehin, native to the historic region of the

Maldive Islands Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

comprising today's Republic of Maldives and the island of

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory ...

in Union territory of Lakshadweep,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They share the same culture and speak the Dhivehi language. They are principally an Indo-Aryan people, closely related to the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

and having traces of

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

ern,

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

Austronesia The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austrone ...

n and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n 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) :''See also Giraavaru people'' Giraavaru is an island of Malé Atoll (the administrative Kaafu Atoll) nowadays hosting a tourist resort. It is located on the southwestern fringe of the lagoon of North Malé Atoll. It was inhabited in the past b ...

. This island was evacuated in 1968 due to heavy erosion of the island.

Filipinos in the Maldives Filipinos in the Maldives consist mainly of expatriates and migrant workers from the Philippines. As of 2018, there were about 3,000 overseas Filipinos working in the Maldives. The Philippine Embassy in Bangladesh has a jurisdiction over the Maldi ...

numbering 3,000 in 2018.

Languages

Dhivehi, an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

closely related to the

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...

of Sri Lanka, and written in a specialized Arabic script (

Thaana Thaana, Taana or Tāna ( ) is the present writing system of the Maldivian language spoken in the Maldives. Thaana has characteristics of both an abugida (diacritic, vowel-killer strokes) and a true alphabet (all vowels are written), ...

), is the official language and is spoken by virtually the whole population.

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 2008 constitution Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship.

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.)

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