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3 2002 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
inhabited), grouped in clusters, or atolls. Area (land): 115 sq mi (298 sq km). The islands extend more than 510 mi (820 km) north-south and 80 mi (130 km) east-west. Population (2005 est.): 294,000. Capitaclass="underline" Male. The population is ethni¬ cally mixed; ancestors include Dravidian and Sinhalese peoples as well as Arabs, Chinese, and others from surrounding Asian areas. Languages:
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Maldon ► Mali I 1177
Divehi (official), Arabic. Religion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Currency: rufiyaa. All the islands are low-lying, none rising more than 6 ft (1.8 m) above sea level. The atolls have sandy beaches, lagoons, and a luxuriant growth of coconut palms, together with breadfruit trees and tropical bushes. One of the world’s poorest countries, the Maldives has a developing economy based on fishing, tourism, boatbuilding, and boat repairing. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. The archipelago was settled in the 5th cen¬ tury bc by Buddhists probably from Sri Lanka and southern India; accord¬ ing to tradition, Islam was adopted in 1153. The Portuguese held sway in Male in 1558-73. The islands were a sultanate under the Dutch rulers of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the 17th century. After the British gained con¬ trol of Ceylon in 1796, the area became a British protectorate, a status formalized in 1887. The islands won full independence from Britain in 1965, and in 1968 a republic was founded and the sultanate abolished. The Maldives joined the British Commonwealth in 1982. Its economy has gradually improved, aided by the growth of tourism. In 2004 the archi¬ pelago was damaged by a large tsunami.
Maldon Vmol-donV Battle of (991) Conflict fought between Saxons and victorious Viking raiders. The battle was commemorated in an Old English heroic poem, which described the war parties aligned on either side of a stream in Essex. It recorded the names of English deserters as well as those who stood fast against the Vikings.
Male \'ma-le\ Chief atoll (pop., 2000: 74,069) and capital of the Maldives. Located in the centre of the Maldives, it comprises two groups of islets: North Male, which is 32 mi (51 km) by 23 mi (37 km); and South Male, which is 20 mi (32 km) by 12 mi (19 km). It has central courts, a gov¬ ernment hospital, an international airport, and public and private schools. It is a trade and tourist centre.
Malebranche \mal-'bra n sh\, Nicolas de (b. Aug. 6, 1638, Paris, France—d. Oct. 13, 1715, Paris) French priest, theologian, and philoso¬ pher. His philosophy is an attempt to reconcile Cartesianism with the thought of St. Augustine and with Neoplatonism. Central to Malebranche’s metaphysics is his doctrine of occasionalism, according to which what are commonly called “causes” are merely “occasions” on which God acts to produce effects. His principal work is Search After Truth (3 vol., 1674-75).
Malenkov \m3- , len- I kof\, Georgy (Maksimilianovich) (b. Jan. 13, 1902, Orenburg, Russia—d. Jan. 14, 1988, near Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet politician and prime minister (1953-55). He joined the Communist Party in 1920 and rose swiftly through the ranks as a close associate of Joseph Stalin. In 1946 he became a full member of the Polit¬ buro and deputy prime minister. After Stalin’s death (1953), he was forced to yield his post as senior party secretary to Nikita Khrushchev, but as prime minister Malenkov worked to reduce arms appropriations, increase the production of consumer goods, and provide more incentives for collec¬ tive farm workers. His programs were opposed by other party leaders, and he was forced to resign as prime minister (1955). Involved in the unsuccessful effort to depose Khrushchev, he was expelled from his other posts (1957) and from the party (1961) and was exiled to central Asia to manage a hydroelectric plant.
Malesherbes \mal-'erb\, Chretien Guillaume de Lamoignon
de (b. Dec. 6, 1721, Paris, France—d. April 22, 1794, Paris) French royal administrator. A lawyer, he was made a counselor in the Parlement (high court) of Paris in 1744. As director of the press (1750-63), he allowed publication of many works by the philosophes, including Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedic. In 1775 he became secretary of state for the royal house¬ hold and instituted prison and legal reforms, including ending the misuse of lettres de cachet, and supported the economic reforms of the comptrol¬ ler general, Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot. He failed to win the king’s sup¬ port for his projects and resigned in 1776. In the French Revolution, he helped conduct the defense of Louis XVI (1792). He was arrested in 1793, tried for treason, and guillotined.
Malevich \m9-'lya-vich\, Kazimir (Severinovich) (b. Feb. 23, 1878, near Kiev, Russia—d. May 15, 1935, Leningrad) Russian painter and designer. He discovered Cubism on a trip to Paris in 1912 and returned to lead the Russian Cubist movement. In 1915 he exhibited paintings more abstractly geometrical than any seen before, consisting of simple geo¬ metrical forms painted in a limited palette, a style he called Suprematism. In 1917-18 he created his well-known White on White series, austere images of a white square floating on a white background. In 1919 he joined Marc Chagall at his revolutionary art school in Vitebsk, where he
exerted a strong influence on El Lissitzky. In the 1920s he returned to rep¬ resentational painting but could not accede to the government’s demand for Socialist Realism. Though his career was doomed, he greatly influenced Western art and design.
Malherbe \mo-'ler-b3\, Francois de (b. 1555, in or near Caen, France—d. Oct. 16, 1628, Paris) French poet and theoretician. He con¬ verted to Roman Catholicism after receiving a Protestant education. In 1577 he became secretary to the governor of Provence, Henri d’Angouleme. His ode to the new queen, Marie de Medicis, made his name widely known, and he became court poet in 1605. His 200-odd surviving letters provide a picture of court life, and his commentary on the poetry of Philippe Desportes (1546-1606) reveal his principles of poetry: that it must demonstrate verbal harmony, propriety, and intelligibility.
Mali officially Republic of Mali Country, western Africa. Area: 482,077 sq mi (1,248,574 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 11,415,000. Capitaclass="underline" Bamako. The Bambara constitute about one-third of the total popu-
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lation. Other ethnic groups include the Fulani and the Berbers (Amazigh). Lan¬ guages: French (official), Dogon, Bam¬ bara, Songhai, Soninke, Senufo, Arabic.
Religions: Islam; also traditional beliefs,
Christianity. Currency: CFA franc. Mali’s terrain is largely flat, and in the north its plains stretch into the Sahara. The upper Niger River basin is in the south; nearly one-third of the total length of the Niger River flows through Mali. Only a tiny fraction of Mali’s total land area is considered arable. Mineral reserves, which are largely unexploited, include iron ore, bauxite, gold, and copper. Agriculture constitutes the major economic activity. Staple crops include millet, sorghum, com, and rice; cash crops include cotton and peanuts. Mali is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Inhabited since prehistoric times, the region was on a trans-Saharan cara¬ van route. The Malinke empire of Mali was founded in the 12th century on the upper and middle Niger. In the 15th century the Songhai empire in the Timbuktu-Gao region gained control. Morocco invaded the area in 1591, and Timbuktu gradually declined in importance. In the mid-19th century the French conquered the area, which became part of French West Africa. In 1946 the area, known as the French Sudan, became an overseas territory of the French Union. In 1958 it was proclaimed the Sudanese Republic, and it joined with Senegal (1959-60) to form the Mali Federation. Senegal seceded, and in 1960 the independent Republic of Mali was formed. The government was overthrown by military coups in 1968 and 1991. Elec¬ tions were held twice in the 1990s and again in 2002. The country has experienced continuing economic problems.