A socio-demographic profile of the population of Maldives.

This article presents a sociodemographic profile of the Maldive population. The Maldives are an archipelago of 1190 small islands in the Indian Ocean south of India. Only 201 of the islands are inhabited. Gross domestic product grew during 1984-94 at a rate of 8.77% per year based on a multi-sector economy. The 1990 population numbered 213,215. During 1985-90 the growth rate was 3.37%. The high growth rate is attributed to the sharp fall in mortality. The mortality rate in 1990 was 6/1000. 25.9% (55,130 persons) live in the capital city of Mali. 47% of population was aged under 15 years, and about 5% were aged over 60 years. Every 100 working-age individuals provided 108 persons with food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. The sex ratio was 105 males per 100 females. Female mortality is higher than male mortality. The sex ratio favoring males increases with age. Almost 90% of females are married by the age of 30-34 years. The singulate mean age at marriage was 24 years for men and 18-19 years for women in 1990. 2% of men and 5% of women were widowed and 9% of women and 6% of men were divorced in 1990. Over 50% of ever married women aged 40 years and older were married at least four times. The frequency of marriage declined with an increase in educational level. 90% of males and 91% of females were literate in 1990. 11.3% of the population aged over 6 years had completed a primary education. 69.6% of males and 21.4% of females were economically active in 1990. Female employment declined during 1985-90. The crude birth rate was 43/1000 in 1990. Fertility peaked among women aged 25-29 years. Lifetime fertility averaged an estimated 7.53 children/woman. Infant mortality was an estimated 40 deaths/1000 live births in 1989. Estimated life expectancy at birth was 56.3 years in 1987. Most housing is permanent but lacks basic amenities, with the exception of electricity.