Male, capital of Maldives

Maldives (Listen / mɒldaɪvz / or / VZ mɒldi ː /), (Dhivehi:ެ,Raa'je Dhivehi), officially the Republic of Maldives (Dhivehi:  ި Dhivehi Raa'jeyge Jumhooriyya), also known as the Maldives, is an island in the Indian Ocean consists of a double chain of 26 atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands between the Minicoy Island and Archipelago Chagos. Lakshadweep Sea is located about 700 km (435 miles) south-west of Sri Lanka, and (250 miles) south-west of India. During the colonial period, when the Dutch "Maldivische Eiland" in their documentation, while the "islands of the Maldives anglicised version 'of the premises used by the British, who later came to write" the Maldives ".

This chain of islands is an archipelago located in the Lakshadweep-Maldives Group, Chagos, which are the vertices of a chain of seamounts in the vast Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. The atolls of the Maldives includes an area of ​​about 90,000 square kilometers, making it one of the most globally dispersed geographically. It has 1192 islands, of which 200 are inhabited. The Republic of Maldives, the capital and largest city is male, with a population of 103,693 (2006). Located at the southern end of Malé, Kaafu Atoll in the. It is also one of the administrative divisions of the Maldives. Traditionally, it was the island where they were including the former King of Maldives royal dynasties.

The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia, both in population and area. With an average ground level of 1.5 meters (4 feet 11 inches) above sea level is the lowest country in the world. It is also the country with the highest lowest point in the world, is 2.3 meters (7 feet 7 inches) the collapse of the Maldives is a major concern for the people of Maldives.