Maldive Islands

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1906. CURRENCY 1906, 100 cents = 1 rupee as Ceylon to 1950. 1950, 100 larees = 1 rupee. 1951, 100 larees = 1 rupee. A group of c.2000 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, of which 220 are inhabited. The sultanate was part of the Ceylon possessions ceded to Britain by the Dutch in 1796, but made a separate protectorate in 1887 administered by the Governor of Ceylon. It became an independent sovereign state on 26 July 1965 and was declared a republic on 11 November 1968.