Maldives

Location	Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India
Geographic coordinates	3 15 N, 73 00 E
Map references	Asia
Area	total: 298 sq km land: 298 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 straight baselines territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 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 Viligili in the Addu Atholhu 2.4 m
Natural resources	fish
Land use	arable land: 13.33% permanent crops: 30% other: 56.67% (2005)
Irrigated land	NA
Total renewable water resources	0.03 cu km (1999)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 0.003 cu km/yr (98%/2%/0%) per capita: 9 cu m/yr (1987)
Natural hazards	tsunamis; low elevation of islands makes them 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, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note	1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls (200 inhabited islands, plus 80 islands with tourist resorts); archipelago with strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean