Geography of the Maldives

The Maldives is a beautiful island country in the Indian Ocean, near India. It is the smallest country in Asia, with land that covers just 298 km² (115 mi²).

The Maldives has about 1,190 coral islands. These islands are grouped into 26 atolls, spread out over a very large area of about 90,000 square kilometers.

These islands sit on top of a long submarine ridge rising up from the deep ocean. Most islands are made from coral reefs and sand bars. Only a few places near the south end of this ridge let ships pass safely between the two sides of the Indian Ocean.

The government of the Maldives divides the islands into twenty-one administrative divisions to help manage the country. The largest island is Gan, which is part of Laamu Atoll. In Addu Atoll, some islands are connected by roads that stretch for 14 km (8.7 mi). The Maldives also has a very large exclusive economic zone of 923,322 km² (356,497 mi²), where it can control fishing and other activities.

Physical geography

See also: List of islands of the Maldives

The Maldives is made up of many small islands grouped into rings called atolls. Most of these islands are very tiny, usually only about one to two square kilometres big. They sit just a little above sea level. Even the biggest atolls stretch about 50 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, but no single island is longer than eight kilometres.

The islands don’t have hills. Some have small sand mounds that rise up to about 2.4 metres above sea level. Because the islands are so small, they don’t have rivers. Some have little lakes and marshes. The plants on the islands differ depending on whether people live there or not. Places where people live often have small groves of banana, papaya, and citrus trees, along with breadfruit and coconut palms. Islands without people usually have bushes, mangroves, and a few coconut trees. Some islands are wet and marshy, while others are higher because sand and gravel have been piled up by the waves.

Only about ten percent of the land is used for growing food like taro, bananas, and coconuts. Fresh water on the islands sits above seawater in a layer called a "Ghyben-Herzberg lens."

Climate

The Maldives has warm weather all year, with temperatures between 24 and 33 °C (75.2 and 91.4 °F). It rarely gets cooler than 25 °C (77 °F) even at night. The country has two main seasons: a dry season and a rainy season. The dry season is in winter, and the rainy season is in summer.

Because the Maldives is very low-lying, its highest point is less than 8 feet above sea level, which keeps the weather warm. Rain amounts differ across the country, with the north getting about 2,540 millimetres (100 in) of rain each year and the south receiving around 3,810 millimetres (150 in). The weather is influenced by nearby landmasses and wind patterns, which bring moist air from the Indian Ocean.

Climate change

Area and boundaries

The Maldives is a very small country. It has a total area of 298 square kilometres, all of which is land. The country’s coastline stretches for 644 kilometres.

The Maldives claims a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles from its islands, a contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles, and an exclusive economic zone covering over 923,000 square kilometres. The lowest point in the country is at sea level. The highest point is just 2.4 metres above sea level on Vilingili Island in the Addu Atoll.

Resources and land use

The Maldives has natural resources such as fish. About 10% of the land is used for farming, another 10% for permanent crops, and the rest, which is 80%, is used for other purposes. There is no irrigated land, and the country has very little renewable water, only about 0.03 cubic kilometers.

Environmental concerns

The Maldives have important environmental challenges. Because the islands are very low, they could be affected by rising sea levels. Leaders are working to protect the nation by reducing harmful emissions and aiming to stop adding to climate change.

Current issues include water supply problems, effects from global warming, and damage to important coral reefs. The Maldives join many international efforts to protect nature and fight climate change, including agreements on Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, and protecting the ozone layer.

Statistics

The Maldives is located between latitude and longitude, just west of India and Sri Lanka. It stretches about 750 km from north to south and 120 km from west to east.

The country has around 1,196 islands, most of which are empty, covering a total area of about 298 km². These islands are very close to the ocean, with an average height of only 1.8 m above sea level. The nearest land is India, about 340 km away, and Sri Lanka, about 700 km away.

Nearest nation

The Maldives is close to India. It is near a group of islands called the Laccadives.