China-Maldives Friendship Bridge linking Male' to Hulhule island, where Maldives' main international airport - Velana International Airport (VIA) - is located, as seen during sunset.
It forms a nice backdrop for the Hedhigondudhoh artificial beach as viewed from the rooftop of Thoum Middle Eastern restaurant on the east coast of Male', the capital island of Maldives.
Coconut and date palms provide a fusion of Arab and Maldivian culture to a city-island which has become cosmopolitan in nature with 1.7 million tourist arrivals recorded this year alone - not counting the tens of thousands of expatriates who treat our archipelago as their second home.
For every 3 Maldivians, there is now 1 expat; Maldivians now number 382,751 while the expat population was recorded at 132,000 during the last census. Accordingly, the whole population of Maldives - both Maldivians and expats included - now stand at more than half a million, or exactly 515,122 as per the last census results disclosed on 30 March 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment