Total area: 300 km2
land area: 300 km2

Comparative area: slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 644 km

Maritime claims:

Exclusive fishing zone: about 100 nm (defined by geographic coordinates);

Extended economic zone: 37-310 nm (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 elevations only as high as 2.5 meters

Natural resources: fish

Land use: 10% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 84% other

Environment: 1,200 coral islands grouped into 19 atolls

Note: archipelago of strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean

NOTE: The information regarding Maldives on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Maldives Geography 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Maldives Geography 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.