Talk:Maldives

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Semi-protected edit request on 7 November 2025

Historical context

Before Indo-Aryan (Prakrit-based) Dhivehi became dominant, the early inhabitants of the Maldives were Dravidian-speaking seafarers — probably Tamil or Malayalam speakers from South India. It is therefore entirely plausible that they called:

“Mālai-t-tīvu” → “Garland of islands.”

Over centuries: 1. Tamil Mālai-t-tīvu 2. Became Maladiv / Maladūpa in Prakrit/Sanskritized forms 3. Recorded in Arabic as Mahal-dibiyat 4. Rendered in Portuguese as Maldivas 5. Then in English as Maldives ~2025-31871-35 (talk) 04:29, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Day Creature (talk) 05:43, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Cities

I removed Template:Largest localities of the Maldives but was reverted on the grounds that it's useful. This template was nominated with the rationale that it consisted of inhabited islands and "tiny settlements". The table is only the most populated 10 of the atolls and administrative divisions which are represented by the articles Atolls of the Maldives and Administrative divisions of the Maldives which are more comprehensive. I am not seeing this as useful. Logoshimpo (talk) 03:20, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

I disagree with the removal of this template. While the articles on 'Atolls' and 'Administrative divisions' provide more comprehensive data, this template serves a different purpose: quick navigation between the major population centers of the Maldives. For a small nation like the Maldives, knowing the top 10 populated islands is crucial for understanding the country's demographics at a glance. A reader on the 'Malé' page might want to jump directly to 'Addu City' or 'Fuvahmulah' without having to navigate through a dense administrative list. It follows the standard 'Largest cities' format used across thousands of other country articles on Wikipedia, providing a consistent user experience. Aazaru (talk) 11:13, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

I think there are fewer than a thousand countries. Template:Atolls of the Maldives is already used for navigation. You will have to be more specific. Logoshimpo (talk) 01:20, 19 December 2025 (UTC)

It focuses specifically on localities rather than just administrative divisions. In the Maldives, an administrative atoll can cover a large area with many islands, but this template highlights the specific hubs where people actually live. Keeping this allows readers to distinguish between the geographical/administrative structure and the actual urban footprint of the country.

Restored the template because the proposed deletion of the template had no consensus. Aazaru (talk) 07:13, 19 December 2025 (UTC)

Yes: the Maldives are broken up into cities and islands but you are lumping them up together. I could propose to have 2 templates for each of those divisions but I would oppose that. This comes down to preference and a "it's useful" and "it's not useful" argument. It's better to remove. Logoshimpo (talk) 00:53, 20 December 2025 (UTC)

While cities and islands are different administrative categories, they serve the same functional purpose in this template: identifying primary population centers. Combining them reflects the actual urban footprint of the country more accurately than strict administrative silos would. Aazaru (talk) 11:26, 20 December 2025 (UTC)

Let me correct myself: the Maldives are broken up into cities, atolls, and islands [why didn't you catch this?]. Lumping them together isn't the intent of these templates. The norm is to make separate articles. Logoshimpo (talk) 21:00, 20 December 2025 (UTC)

I disagree; the intent of the template is the largest localities of the Maldives, regardless of administrative categories. Aazaru (talk) 07:52, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

What is that definition? Is it original research or did you get it from government sources? Logoshimpo (talk) 20:29, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

'Elu substratum'

First, it is not a substratum - the language is of Elu origin, which is not at all the same thing. 'Substratum' would imply that a new language coming from the outside was adopted by the population but remains of the previous one are found in it. In reality, the population has never stopped speaking their language that originates from Elu, only loans from other languages have been added. Second, the cited source actually claims a Tamil substratum, FWIW. ~2025-43840-74 (talk) 19:52, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 April 2026

change the name to the republic of the maldives as per the constition (page,3 ) Azy.bkv (talk) 10:00, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: The official name is already in the lead sentence. Wikipedia article titles go by WP:COMMONNAME; if secondary sources start using the full, official title, then the article may eventually be moved to that title, but I don't think we're close to that yet. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 13:31, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

Maldives is a country. The Maldives are islands.

Maldives, unlike The Bahamas, doesn't have "The" in its official short name. But this article refers to it as "The Maldives" throughout.

It's ok to say "The Maldives are ..." when talking about the islands as a geographic term, but "The Maldives is ..." perpetuates the colonial-area name for the country. ~2026-26632-93 (talk) 07:37, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

The claim that "the Maldives" is a colonial relic is not true - current Maldivian official sources use lowercase "the Maldives" for the modern state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says "the Maldives became a member of the United Nations", refers to "the foreign policy of the Maldives", and describes the country as "The Maldives — an island nation". The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations, an official Maldivian mission site, likewise uses the form in statements such as "The Maldives is a chain of 1,190 small islands" and "The Maldives is an archipelago". This together with this form being more common in modern English usage. AlbusWulfricDumbledore (talk) 16:38, 8 June 2026 (UTC)