The Maldives (Lesson 3)

A. Discuss the questions in pairs.
1. Have you ever visited any island or seen any island on TV?
2. Have you ever heard of a coral island? Is there any coral island in Bangladesh?
3. What do you know about the Maldives?

B. Now read the text below and answer the questions in C, D and E.
The Republic of Maldives is an island country in the Indian Ocean. It has 1199 islands that are clustered into 26 major atolls. An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef or a string of closely spaced coral islands. The natural coral reefs of the Maldives are surrounded by the sea all around and stand out as a pearl in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is the eighth smallest country in the world with an area of only 300 square kilometers. It is the smallest Asian country in terms of population and size.

They set sail from different parts of the world - Asia, Arabia, Europe and America - to come to these islands. The earliest settlers of the Maldives were probably from southern India and Sri Lanka who came to these islands in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. In the 12th century AD, sailors from East Africa and Arab countries came to the Maldives. As a result, the Maldivians who were originally Buddhists were converted to Sunni Islam in the mid-12th century. In 1344 Ibn Batuta, a famous Arab historian and scholar travelled around the Maldives.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese conquered the Maldives and ruled the country for 15 years. Although governed as an independent Islamic sultanate for most of its history from 1153 to 1968, the Maldives was a British colony from 1887 to 1965. Following independence from Britain in 1965, the sultanate continued to operate for another 3 years. On November 11, 1968, the sultanate was abolished and replaced by a republic and the country assumed its present name.
The Maldives is famous as a tourist destination because of its pleasant weather, heavenly beaches and lagoons, luxurious holiday resorts and the peace-loving people. The Maldives was ranked as the best country for beautiful beaches and facilities for recreation in 2008.

The Maldives is well known for being the lowest country in the world. Unfortunately, this small country with idyllic natural beauty is under threat from rising sea levels due to global warming. Most of the country is just 1.5 meters above sea level with the highest point of 2.3 meters! Many predictions have been made with respect to Maldives being swept away by the rising water level in the Indian Ocean. when the power tsunami of 2004 hit the island nation, many of the island's dry parts were flooded by the sea water. The government of the Maldives has begun to purchase land from nearby countries for resettling its people in case the islands go under water! In order to highlight the threats of global warming to its low lying islands, the government of Maldives held a cabinet meeting underwater in 2009. That was the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in the world. The meeting took place about 5 meters underwater, in a blue- green lagoon on a small island. While underwater, the cabinet signed a document calling on all nations to cut their carbon emissions.

C. Ask and answer the questions.
1.What is an atoll?
2. How many countries in the world are smaller than the Maldives in size?
3. When was Islam introduced in the Maldives?
4. What makes the Maldives an ideal place for the tourists?
5.  What dangers of climate change might affect the Maldives?
6. Do you support the idea of having a cabinet meeting underwater? What could be the reason for holding such a strange meeting?

E. Say if the statements are True/False. Give the correct information in case of a false statement.

1. Only seven countries in the world are smaller in size than the Maldives.
2. No other South Asian century has a population smaller than the Maldives.
3. The islands of the Maldives were inhabited in the 12th century.
4. The Maldives was an independent Islamic sultanate from 1153 to 1968.
5. The Maldives was ranked as the second best country for natural beauty in 2008.