Our Story

Archiving has been practiced in societies since whenever people existed. In the Maldives, our history shows that Maldivians archived since back during 1100 A.D, archeological records showcasing a rich culture and history.

In 1942, government documents officially started being archived in the Maldives. The National Archives is a public legal entity established under the Archives Act (16/2011) on 19th January 2012. Our main mission is to preserve national official documents, images, videos, and other forms of information; with respect to the archiving and public records management policies.

Currently our organization is administered under the Minister of Arts, Culture & Heritage. In the past, the National Archives was parented by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, then by the Ministry of Transport & Communication, and later under the Ministry of Finance & Treasury until November 2017.

Our organization structure is always being revised to strengthen the institution. The main work of our staff is documentation research, publication, hosting public awareness programs, and the public records digitalization project.

Why is Archiving Important?

The Maldives island nation that faces unique challenges in regards to rising sea levels, limited resources and lack of space. Our country has a proud history and a one-of-a-kind culture. As current society becomes rapidly modernized, there is also the risk of culture, heritage, and identity being washed away and slowly forgotten by the newer generations. Proper archiving and preservation of our way of life, and proof of important history provides future generations access to reliable resources for education and research, and also national development.

With regards to digital preservation, it is necessary to implement as it is not feasible to keep thousands of physical records in storages. As of today, there are an estimated 601,514,240 public record documents in different institutes in need of digitalization and disposal. There are over 7 million digital records in GEMS, and though some documents have been preserved, they still need more technical conservation and preservation practices.