local conditions and customs
Maldives
The Republic of Maldives, formerly known as the Maldives, is an archipelagic country in the Indian Ocean. It is approximately 600 kilometers away from southern India and 750 kilometers away from southwestern Sri Lanka. 26 sets of natural atolls and 1192 coral islands are distributed within a sea area of 90000 square kilometers, of which approximately 200 islands are inhabited. The land area is 115300 square kilometers (including territorial sea area), with a land area of 298 square kilometers and a population of 557000 (as of August 2022). It is the capital city of Male and is divided into 21 administrative regions nationwide.
religion：
Maldives is a universal Islamic country, and Islam is the state religion and belongs to the Sunni sect. Islam has had a comprehensive impact on the social life of Maldives. There are nearly a thousand mosques in the country, including 40 in Male, including the Islamic Center and Friday Mosque. In Maldives, every Islamic has five basic obligations, namely reciting the oath of accession, performing five daily prayer rituals, giving alms, observing fasting during Ramadan, and going on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Naked swimming in Maldives is illegal.
custom：
The Maldives does not eat pork or drink alcohol, and fish is the most common food eaten by the Maldives. In addition to rice, a certain amount of sweet potatoes, taro, and other starch foods, residents mostly rely on cassava and coconut as their main food. Residents eat less vegetables and prefer spicy food. The main fruits include bananas, watermelons, papayas, mangoes, etc.
As a Muslim country, Maldives citizens pray 5 times a day, starting at approximately 4:30, 12:15, 15:30, 18:30, and 19:40, during which shops are closed for 15 minutes. Friday and Saturday are rest days, and prayer at 12:15 noon on Friday is the most important. Generally, stores do not open until 14:00 (some stores are closed all day).
The Maldives is strictly prohibited from smuggling drugs, carrying various prohibited items such as pork and alcohol into the country, fishing, picking or trampling on coral on the island without permission, and carrying shark fins, corals, shells, etc. out of the country.
