Official Language
Dhivehi (Maldivian)
Updated July 2026 · Sources cited: en.wikipedia.org, familysearch.org
Overall7/10More English-friendly than about 55% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- English works well at resorts, hotels, restaurants, and tourist facilities, but proficiency drops significantly on outer islands and local neighborhoods
- Dhivehi uses right-to-left Thaana script; signage often includes English translations in tourist areas
- Basic Dhivehi greetings (like 'Assalaamu Alaikum') are appreciated by locals; the phrase 'Do you speak English?' is useful when English is unavailable
- Many foreign workers and newer residents learn Dhivehi despite English being common in service sectors
- Staff at dive shops, water-sports facilities, and tourism-related businesses reliably speak English
Other Languages
Arabic
- Proficiency
- Functional for religious purposes
- Notes
- taught in schools and mosques as religious education. Used in formal Islamic ceremonies and Quranic study.
French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese
- Proficiency
- Spoken at resorts
- Notes
- Resorts and tourist facilities employ staff with these languages depending on visitor demographics
Official Languages
Dhivehi (Maldivian)
- Speaker Percentage
- 98.6
- Script
- Thaana (right-to-left)
- Status
- Official national language
- Notes
- Indo-Aryan language related to Sinhala of Sri Lanka. Used in government, education, and media.
English Proficiency
- Overall Level
- Widely spoken
- Tourist Areas
- excellent proficiency in resorts, hotels, and tourist-facing businesses
- Education Priority
- English is taught from primary level; secondary and tertiary education uses English as medium of instruction
- General Population
- increasingly common, especially in Malé; rising use due to tourism and education emphasis
- Regional Variation
- highest in tourist areas and urban centers; may be limited in outer islands
Digital Communication
English is functional/standard in digital contexts, tourism websites, and app interfaces
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this language & english friendliness research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Maldives
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.