Location
Southern
Asia group of atolls in the Indian Ocean south-southwest
of India The Maldive islands stretch from the southern
tip of India down to the equator. There are 1,196 islands
spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers of the Indian
Ocean ,making this one of the most disparate countries
in the world.
Geographic coordinates
3 15 N, 73 00 E
Area:
Total 300 sq km : land: 300 sq km ; water: 0 sq km
.Area - comparative: about 1.7 times the size of Washington,
DC ; Land boundaries: 0 km ;Coastline: 644 km
Maritime claims
Measured from claimed archipelagic baselines; contiguous
zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ;territorial
sea: 12 nm
Climate
Tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November
to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Terrain
Flat, with white sandy beaches ;Elevation extremes:lowest
point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location
on Wilingili island in the Addu Atoll 2.4 m (the Maldives
are the flattest country in the world).
Natural resources
Fish
Land use
Arable land: 10% ;permanent crops: 0% ;permanent pastures:
3% ;forests and woodland: 3% ;other: 84% (1993 est.) Irrigated
land: NA sq km
Natural hazards
Low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea
level rise
Environment - current issues
Depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies;
global warming and sea level rise; coral reef bleaching
Environment - international agreements
Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note
1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls (200 inhabited
islands, plus 80 islands with tourist resorts); archipelago
of strategic location astride and along major sea lanes
in Indian Ocean.
The biggest island of the Maldives is Fuvahmulah, which
is a single island and single atoll located in the southern
part of the Maldives known the Ganaviyani atoll. In Addu
atoll most of the islands are connected by roads over
the reef and the total length of the road is 12 km.
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