Full Independence.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir signs the independence papers, formally ending 78 years of British protection. Later that same year, the Maldives becomes the 117th member state of the United Nations — a tiny nation taking its seat on the world stage.
Independence came on 26 July 1965, signed by Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir at a short ceremony at the British High Commission in Colombo. The agreement ended 78 years of protectorate status. Nasir — who had suppressed the Suvadive secession two years earlier — would go on to dismantle the sultanate in 1968 and become the first president of the Second Republic.
On 21 September of the same year, the Maldives was admitted as the 117th member of the United Nations — one of the smallest member states by population, by economy, and by land area, but fully and formally sovereign.