Although small, Malé, the capital of Maldives, has been the political, economic and cultural hub of this far-flung archipelago for centuries. Malé is the nation's chief administrative and economic center and its main commercial port. When H.C.P. Bell stayed on Malé in 1921, he remarked that "with its teeming population of over 5,200 souls, it is far too over crowded already". Yet the capital now boasts over 90,000 inhabitants, nearly a third of the population, and a floating population of several thousand people who come to sell their wares and buy goods. Malé was part of a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, when it became the capital of the newly independent Maldives Islands (renamed Republic of Maldives in 1968).