FACTBOX: Key facts about winner of Maldives presidential vote

(Reuters) - Opposition candidate Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed on Wednesday was announced the winner of the first multi-party democratic elections in the Maldives, defeating his longtime rival, 30-year incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Here are some facts about Nasheed, whom Gayoom repeatedly threw in jail on the Indian Ocean archipelago:

* Born May 17, 1967, Nasheed was educated in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, and obtained a bachelor's degree in maritime studies from Liverpool John Moores University. He was 11 years old when Gayoom first came to power in 1978.

* He got his start as a dissident journalist, which quickly ran him afoul of Gayoom's government. Over his career, he has faced a total of 27 charges and been jailed or banished to a remote atoll for a total of six years. Rights watchdog Amnesty International named him a "prisoner of conscience" in 1996. Rights groups say all the charges were trumped up by the government.

* Nasheed is popularly known by his nickname Anni, and many in his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) refer to him as their "Nelson Mandela," a reference to the former South African leader who served decades in jail.

* Nasheed was first elected to parliament in 1999 but lost his seat in 2001 after he was prosecuted for theft on what he said were made-up charges, an assessment many foreign observers and rights groups agreed with.

* He formed the MDP while in exile in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom in 2003, a year that saw uncharacteristic riots in the capital Male over the killing of a youth while he was in prison. That prompted a heavy-handed crackdown by state authorities.

* In 2004, Nasheed was at the center of democracy protests that were sparked after he went to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the riots and to press for more reforms. He was arrested and the government declared a state of emergency, which prompted the European Union to threaten sanctions.

* Nasheed had promised a mid-term election if he won, and has said that Gayoom will have no part in his administration. Nasheed will inherit a presidency with far fewer powers than Gayoom enjoyed, which is the direct result of his years of agitation for changes in the constitution.