What Does Maldives Mean?

The word Maldives is attributed to a nation that can be located in the Indian Ocean and is quite close to India. The meaning that you can figure out from the name of the nation is yet to be determined and numerous scholars have interpreted the name in their own way.

Some scholars believe that the name has its origin in the Tamil words 'malai' and 'teevu' that stand for mountain and island respectively. Some scholars say that the meaning you can derive from the word is that of 'a thousand islands'. There are some other views also regarding the meaning of the name and they say that the word 'Maldives' is of Sanskrit origin and the original word was 'maladvipa' that means garland of islands. Even there also you can find different views and some scholars say that the original word was 'mahila dvipa' that means 'island of women'.

Maldives, which is the Republic of Maldives, is known as "Mountain Islands" or even "a thousand islands". It is derived from the Tamil language where "malai" in Tamil means "mountain" and teevu in Tamil means "islands". However, some sources claim that this word has been derived from the Sanskrit word maladvipa, which means "garland of islands", or even from "mahila dvipa", which means "island of women". While some claim the word is derived from the Arabic word Mahal, which means "palace".

Maldives is better known worldwide as an island that comprises of a group of atolls that is situated in the Indian Ocean. It lies to the south of the Lakshadweep islands and approximately seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka.