Maldives
/ˈmɔːldiːvz/(also Maldive Islands) 
A country consisting of a chain of coral islands in the Indian Ocean south-west of Sri Lanka; population 396,300 (est. 2009); official language, Maldivian; capital, Male.
The islands were probably first settled from southern India and Sri Lanka, but later came under Arab influence. A British protectorate from 1887, the Maldives became independent within the Commonwealth under the rule of a sultan in 1965 and then a republic in 1968