The Maldives is a geographically dispersed island state in the Indian Ocean, with 1,192 small coral islands (spread across 767 kilometres), of which only 188 are inhabited. According to the Maldives National Bureau of Statistics, 39% of the total population of fewer than 400,000 live on the capital island Malé. Tourism, fishing, and the service sector account for the country’s main income-generating activities.

While Maldives is well known as a tourist destination, authoritative information about the Maldives and its society is sparse in published literature. This entry provides an overview of media in Maldives, outlines laws governing mass media, and then describes usage of popular traditional and new media, in particular social media.