A Socio-demographic Profile of the Population of Maldives (original) (raw)

deeply appreciated. The author however is solely responsible for any error that may be contained in the article; the views expressed are his only and in no way reflect the opinion either of the organizations with which he is affiliated or the Government of the Republic of Maldives. The unabated growth of the population will be detrimental to the attainment of the country's cherished socioeconomic development goals It is sometimes assumed that small countries do not have population problems, or face the type of population issues that larger countries do. In this article, an attempt is made to provide a "pen picture" or socio-demographic profile of the population of Maldives using data collected by the country's 1985 and 1990 population and housing censuses. It attempts to bring out some of the issues faced by the Republic of Maldives. An Indian Ocean archipelago located 600 kilometres south of India, Maldives extends from the Equator northward. It consists of 1,190 small islands forming a chain 820 kms in length within an area of 90,000 square kms. For administrative purposes, the 26 natural atolls of the archipelago are divided into 19 groups, also referred to as atolls. The islands are low lying with an average elevation of 1.6 metres above mean sea level. Few of the islands have a land area in excess of one square km and only 201 of them are inhabited. It is estimated that only 10 per cent of the country's total land area is suitable for agriculture. The economic performance of the country has been very impressive in recent years. Gross domestic product (GDP) at 1985 prices grew at the rate (geometric) of 8.77 per cent per annum in the last decade (1984-1994). The GDP per capita was estimated to be around US$727 in 1994, the highest among the countries comprising the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The country's impressive economic performance was accompanied by changes in the structure of the economy from a predominantly fisheries-based economy to a multi-sectoral economy, dominated by the tourism and fisheries sectors; improved health and living conditions of the people, and universalization of primary education. Population size and growth The 1990 Population and Housing Census of Maldives enumerated a total population of 213,215 persons, excluding foreign passport holders residing in Maldives. This is a large increase from 180,088 Maldivians enumerated in the 1985 census, yielding an exponential growth rate of 3.37 per cent per annum, the highest ever recorded. If this rate of growth continues, it is expected that the current population will double itself within about 21 years. The potential for such growth is inherent in the young age structure of the Maldivian population. All ages 2.86 4.13 4.78 5.41 Standardized for age * 3.92 4.32 4.43 4.41