This CD contains the Island Level results of the Maldives Population and Housing Census conducted during 21-28 March 2006. It consists of a total 22 tables: 15 tables on Population and 7 tables on Housing. This census was originally planned for the year 2005, but was postponed for 2006 due to the disastrous tsunami that hit the nation on 26 December 2004. Four islands were completely destroyed due to the tsunami, and the populations of these islands were hosted in other islands at the time of the 2006 Census. Hence the census results reflect such movement in the respective island populations and their living conditions.

Census 2006 was carried out in all the 196 administrative islands, 88 resort islands and 34 industrial and other islands of the country. Data relating to the size, geographical distribution and socio-economic characteristics of the population such as sex, age, educational attainment, marital status and employment were collected and are presented in these tables. Four questionnaires were administered for census data collection, namely: Household Listing Form, Person's Listing Form, Household Form (includes household and persons information) and Establishment Form.

The countrywide exercise involved a total of 2,808 census staff. The enumeration of the people was carried out similar to previous censuses, on a de facto basis (i.e. counting the person where he/she was present at the time of enumeration). However, Maldivians who were temporarily out of the country were also included. Foreigners residing in the country for employment purposes were not included in the census.

For the first time the census questionnaires were scanned using Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) method. This automated system of obtaining the results helped speed up the process and to increase the accuracy of the results. The final results of the population and housing census 2006 were released on 28 January 2007 by the Minister of Planning and National Development Mr. Hamdun Hameed.

The first modern census in the Maldives was conducted in 1977. In view of the rapid development and changing population characteristics on Maldives, the government decided to conduct the national census every 5 years instead of every 10 years as in most other countries, and began a new series in 1985. This has been followed by censuses in 1990, 1995, 2000. However, the 2005 census was delayed to 2006 as mentioned above due to the tsunami of 2004.

We would like to acknowledge the support and whole-hearted cooperation given by the respondents during the census and thank them for their valuable time and willingness to provide the required information. We would also like to express our gratitude to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and various other government agencies for their involvement, support and assistance, and to all those who contributed their services, time and effort towards making census 2006 a success.