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:
exclusive economic zone: 35-310 nm as defined by geographic
coordinates; segment of zone coincides with maritime boundary with
India
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 24 m

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

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer
Protection
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the
Sea

Geography-note: 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls;
archipelago of strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in
Indian Ocean

@Maldives:People

Population: 290,211 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (male 70,244; female 66,758)
15-64 years: 50% (male 73,784; female 70,539)
65 years and over: 3% (male 4,735; female 4,151) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.42% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 40.12 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.96 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.14 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 41.12 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 67.57 years
male: 65.87 years
female: 69.35 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.84 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Maldivian(s)
adjective: Maldivian

Ethnic groups: Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, African

Religions: Sunni Muslim

Languages: Maldivian Divehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from
Arabic), English spoken by most government officials

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total popul