Maldives Geography - 2004

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: 300 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 300 sq km

Area - comparative:
about 1.7 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
644 km

Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
contiguous zone: 24 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

Natural resources:
fish

Land use:
arable land: 3.33%
permanent crops: 6.67%
other: 90% (1998 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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements