National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Maldives [x], South-Central Asia [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Maldives)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 68/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 110/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 15/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 3/253 |
Maldives: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Nonreligious.
Maldives: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Agnostics, Atheists, Catholics, Independents, Protestants, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, Theravadins, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.03% | 0.13% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 0.65% | 1.54% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | --- | 0.46% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 0.65% | 0.83% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | 0.25% | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | --- | 0.01% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 0.29% | 3.88% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.01% | 0.01% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | --- | 0.29% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 0.15% | 1.25% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 0.12% | 1.36% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 0.00% | 1.06% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | --- | 3.09% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 0.29% | 53.58% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.12% | 20.43% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.04% | 18.99% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.12% | 14.16% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.31% | 0.08% |
| Jews | --- | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 98.69% | 35.21% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 98.58% | 29.06% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.10% | 5.78% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.37% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | --- | 0.00% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | --- | 1.26% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | 0.01% | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 0.06% | 1.00% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 0.05% | 0.88% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.00% | 0.12% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Maldives)3
The country has an area of 500 square miles distributed across 1,200 coral atolls and islands, with a population of 380,000.
The population is a distinct ethnic group with historical roots in South Indian, Sinhalese, and Arab communities. The vast majority of the Muslim population practices Sunni Islam. Non-Muslim foreigners, including 675,000 tourists who visit annually (predominantly Europeans and Japanese) and 70,000 foreign workers (mainly Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Indians, and Bangladeshis), in general are only allowed to practice their religious beliefs in private. Most Muslim tourists and Muslim foreign workers choose to practice Islam in private or at mosques located at the resorts where they work and live.
Summary Information |
Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Central Asia | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 359,259 | 1,866,835,557 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 115 | 4,163,229 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 77.1 | 70.7 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 11,970.0 | 8,062.3 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -0.7 | -0.3 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Sunni Islam | -- | -- |
Maldives - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Maldives [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | No |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but is never denied, and treatment of all religions in the registration process is equal |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Religious State 1 |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Mandatory for some who have no ability to opt out; the course must be in religion but optional for others or there exists for some the option of taking a non-religious course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes to only one religion, no other religions receive funds. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | All government officials must meet some form of religious requirement to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Maldives [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | yes [ Article 10(a) ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | no |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | no |
Constitution |
Maldives [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 2008 |
| Last Amended10 | 2015 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | October 31, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 99.3 | 73.0 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 94.8 | -- | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 47.9 | 68.5 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 4.2 | 3,565.6 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 3,197.3 | -- | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 3,367.1 | -- | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 50.3 | 54.9 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 11,970.0 | 8,062.3 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.0000125 | 0.009459929 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | -- | 2.5 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Maldives [x] |
South-Central Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 359,259 | 1,866,835,557 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 77.1 | 70.7 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | -0.1 | -7,876.4 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 46.5 | 35.4 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 7.3 | 37.2 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | -- | -- | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Maldives)10
Article 2. Republic of the Maldives.
The Maldives is a ... Republic based on the principles of Islam ...
Article 9. Citizens.
...
(d) ... [A] non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives.
Article 10. State religion.
(a) The religion of the State of the Maldives is Islam. Islam shall be the one of the bases of all the laws of the Maldives.
(b) No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.
Article 16. Guarantee of rights.
(a) This Constitution guarantees to all persons, in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam, the rights and freedoms contained within this Chapter ...
(b) The limitation of a right or freedom specified in this Chapter by a law enacted by the People’s Majlis as provided for in this Constitution, and in order to protect and maintain the tenets of Islam, shall not be contrary to article (a).
(c) In deciding whether a right or freedom in this Chapter, has been limited in accordance with article (a) and (b), a court must be fully cognisant of and make reference to all the facts, including:
...
(6) the extent to which the right or freedom must be limited in order to protect the tenets of Islam, where the right or freedom has been limited pursuant to article (b).
...
Article 19. Freedom from restraint.
A citizen is free to engage in any conduct or activity that is not expressly prohibited by Islamic Shari’ah or by law. ...
Article 27. Freedom of expression.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and the freedom to communicate opinions and expression in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam.
Article 36. Right to education.
...
(c) Education shall strive to inculcate obedience to Islam, instill love for Islam ...
Article 59. Retrospective legislation.
(a) No person shall be found guilty of any act or omission which did not constitute an offence under Islamic Shari’ah or law at the time committed. ...
...
Article 67. Responsibilities and duties.
The exercise and enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of responsibilities and duties, and it is the responsibility of every citizen:
...
(f) to promote democratic values and practices in a manner that is not inconsistent with any tenet of Islam;
(g) to preserve and protect the State religion of Islam ...
...
Article 70. Legislative authority.
...
(b) The law making powers of the People’s Majlis pursuant to article (a), includes the following powers:
...
(2) the enactment of legislation with regard to any matter, or the amendment or repeal of any law, which is not inconsistent with any tenet of Islam;
...
(c) The People’s Majlis shall not pass any law that contravenes any tenet of Islam.
...
Article 73. Qualifications of members.
(a) A person elected to be a member of the People’s Majlis shall be so qualified if he:
...
(3) is a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam;
...
Article 90. Privilege.
(a) No member or other person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court, and no person shall be subject to any inquiry, arrest, detention or prosecution, with respect to anything said in, produced before, or submitted to the People’s Majlis or any of its committees, or with respect to any vote given if the same is not contrary to any tenet of Islam.
...
Article 100. Removal of President or Vice President.
(a) The People’s Majlis, by a resolution, may remove the President or the Vice President from office only on the grounds of:
(1) direct violation of a tenet of Islam, the Constitution or law;
...
Article 109. Qualifications for election as President.
A person elected as President shall have the following qualifications:
...
(b) be a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam;
...
(g) ... not have been convicted of an offence for which a hadd is prescribed in Islam ...
Article 130. Qualifications of Ministers.
(a) A person shall be qualified to be a member of the Cabinet if he:
...
(3) is a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam;
...
Article 142. Compliance with law.
... When deciding matters on which the Constitution or the law is silent, Judges must consider Islamic Shari’ah. ...
Article 149. Qualifications of Judges.
...
(b) ... [A] Judge shall possess the following qualifications:---
(1) be a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam;
...
(3) has not been convicted of an offence for which a hadd is prescribed in Islam, ...
...
(c) A person appointed to be a Judge of the Supreme Court ... must be educated in Islamic Shari’ah or law.
...
Article 246. Equal treatment.
(a) Members of the security services shall treat all persons and groups ... with humanity and dignity in accordance with the decorous principles of Islam.
...
Article 274. Definitions.
(a) In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
...
• "tenet of Islam" means, the Holy Qur’an and those principles of Shari’ah whose provenance is not in dispute from among those found in the Sunna of the Noble Prophet, and those principles derived from these two foundations;
• "Islamic Shari’ah" means, the Holy Qur’an and the ways preferred by the learned people within the community and followers of the Sunnah in relation to criminal, civil, personal and other matters found in the Sunna;
...
Schedule 1. Oaths of Office.
[all oaths include: "that I will respect the religion of Islam"]
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
