From Bob's archive: A land without people for a people without land?
Continuing my monthly post from the archive. This is from November 2008. Since then, the Maldives have not succeeded in finding a new location, and instead have invested in artificial islands and floating cities . The Maldives are one of the lands in the frontline of global climate change. A small rise in the sea level brought on by the melting of the polar ice caps will lead to 80% of the islands disappearing under water. Last month, the Maldives held their first democratic election, and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom , dictator since 1978 (and a Muslim Brotherhood follower) was replaced by Mohamed Nasheed , a democratic activist imprisoned several times under Gayoom, was sworn in yesterday. Interestingly, one of Nasheed's first public statements suggested the country's tourism income would be saved up to buy a new homeland for the Maldivian people. He mentioned a few places that might sell land - and, crucially, sovereignty over that land - but has not yet negotatiated with those cou
