Maldives document photos online

When the Maldives Monetary Authority unveiled its Ran Dhihafaheh polymer banknotes in October 2015, the notes carried more than tropical artwork printed in gold pearlescent ink and embossed dots for blind readers. They bore the signature of Governor Dr. Azeema Adam, the first time in the nation's history that a woman had signed Maldivian currency. The series itself was the work of Abdullah Nashaath, an artist chosen through a public design competition so the money would look authentically Maldivian. For a country of roughly 1,190 coral islands barely rising above the sea, the banknotes are a small, deliberate act of identity-making.

• Passport The Maldivian passport ranked 53rd on the 2025 Henley Passport Index, granting its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 93 destinations worldwide.
• Document security The current Maldivian e-passport packs 34 visible and invisible security features and a laser-engraved polycarbonate data page, and visa pages are decorated with illustrations by local artist Hussain Ali Manik.
• First in region The Maldives became the first SAARC nation to issue a biometric e-passport, launching it on 26 July 2007 to coincide with the anniversary of independence from Britain.
• Currency The rufiyaa is split into 100 laari, and the unit's name traces back to the bent silver wire coins of Lar in old Persia, while rufiyaa itself descends from the Sanskrit word for wrought silver.
• Banknotes The 2015 Ran Dhihafaheh polymer series was the first Maldivian currency ever signed by a woman, Governor Dr. Azeema Adam, and was designed by a competition-winning local artist.
• Citizenship Under the 2008 constitution Islam is the state religion and non-Muslims are barred from becoming citizens, while parliament cannot pass any law that contradicts the tenets of Islam.
• Statehood The Maldives gained independence from Britain on 26 July 1965 after 78 years as a protectorate, yet kept its sultanate for three more years until a republic was declared on 11 November 1968.
• Geography With a highest natural point of just 2.4 metres, the Maldives is the lowest-lying country on Earth, its 1,190 islands scattered across roughly 90,000 square kilometres of ocean.
• Language Maldivian Dhivehi gave English the word 'atoll' (from atolhu), and is written in the unique right-to-left Thaana script whose letters derive partly from Arabic numerals.