Maldives , is it singular or plural?

[doingresearch]

I looked it up on Longman dictionary. The Maldives "are" threatened by global warming.
Or the Maldives in this sentence referred to people living on the islands.
More ideas?
thank you
doingresearch

 

[BobK]

Geography isn't my strong suit [not another clothing-related metaphor, BTW ;-)] but I've always thought the Maldives were a group of islands. That sentence doesn't refer to people; they would be 'the inhabitants of the Maldives'.

b

 

[emsr2d2]

"The Maldives" is used to refer to the group of islands so it takes the plural. However, the official name is "The Republic of the Maldives" - that would take the singular. The indigenous population are Maldivians or Maldive Islanders.

 

[doingresearch]

Thank you for your answer. But why we use a singular verb for the Philippines, even the country consists of many islands too.

 

[konungursvia]

The United States is another example.

 

[5jj]

If you think of '(The) Maldives' as the name of the nation rather than as the geographical group of islands, then the singular verb is possible.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'll be honest - most people (in my part of the world) probably have no idea that The Philippines is made up of lots of islands. Most of us think of it as "a country" and therefore probably just one land mass. However, because The Maldives are a regular holiday destination for Brits looking for a tropical island experience, most of us are aware that they are islands.

 

[5jj]

I'll be honest - most people (in my part of the world) probably have no idea that The Philippines is made up of lots of islands. Most of us think of it as "a country" and therefore probably just one land mass. However, because The Maldives are a regular holiday destination for Brits looking for a tropical island experience, most of us are aware that they are islands.

Sad, but probably true. Probably a lot of people don't realise that the Maldives is a nation.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sad, but probably true. Probably a lot of people don't realise that the Maldives is a nation.

Also true. I was once taking part in a pub quiz in which the question "Which country do The Maldives belong to?" came up. We could hear other teams frantically running through every country they could think of in fairly close proximity to The Maldives, trying to work it out. Our team (4 immigration staff) sat back quite smugly realising it was a trick question.

 

[konungursvia]

"The Maldives" is used to refer to the group of islands so it takes the plural. However, the official name is "The Republic of the Maldives" - that would take the singular. The indigenous population are Maldivians or Maldive Islanders.

I think the question is whether you are referring politically to the country or geographically to the islands and their ecosystems. So, the Maldives is also a country like the United States is, in certain contexts.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think the question is whether you are referring politically to the country or geographically to the islands and their ecosystems. So, the Maldives is also a country like the United States is, in certain contexts.

"The Republic of [the] Maldives" is a country in all contexts.

 

[konungursvia]

As seen in my examples, I was referring to the question of whether the usage "The Maldives is" or "The Maldives are" is appropriate. Not whether the Republic of the Maldives is or is not a country "in all contexts."

 

[emsr2d2]

Ah, so you were just giving an example of a sentence using "is" following "The Maldives"! Sorry, I thought you meant "So, the Maldives is also a country like the United States is, in certain contexts" as a statement of fact!