<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Maldives<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
<list>
<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Southern Asia, in the Indian Ocean off the southwest coast of India
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 300 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 300 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> 0 km
<item><hi format=bold>Coastline:</hi> 644 km
<item><hi format=bold>Maritime claims:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>exclusive economic zone:</hi> 35-310 nm as defined by geographic coordinates; segment of zone coincides with maritime boundary with India
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> flat with elevations only as high as 2.5 meters
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> fish
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 10%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 0%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 3%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 3%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 84%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> NA sq km
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea level rise
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified—Law of the Sea
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> 1,200 coral islands grouped into 19 atolls; archipelago of strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
