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The Maldives, [d] officially the Republic of Maldives, [e] and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India , about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland.
The history of the Maldives is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas in South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is formed of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1,194 islands. Historically, the Maldives has held strategic importance due to its location on the major marine routes of the Indian ...
For administrative purposes the Maldives government organized these atolls into twenty-one administrative divisions. [2] The largest island of Maldives is Gan, which belongs to Laamu Atoll or Hahdhummathi Maldives. [3] In Addu Atoll the westernmost islands are connected by roads over the reef and the total length of the road is 14 km (8.7 mi). [4]
Officially known as the Republic of Maldives, the nation of islands is located in the north-central Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India.
The islands in the atolls of the Maldives rest on the shelf provided by the reefs. Many reefs have no islands at all, but all islands in the Maldives have an underlying coralline reef. Usually islands are flat and sandy. Often there is a rocky bottom made up of a coral rock conglomerate underneath the island proper.
The wildlife of the Maldives includes the flora and fauna of the islands, reefs, and the surrounding ocean. Recent scientific studies suggest that the fauna varies greatly between atolls following a north–south gradient, but important differences between neighbouring atolls were also found (especially in terms of sea animals), which may be ...
Out of 1,192 islands of the Maldives, 187 are inhabited. [1] They are listed by administrative division/atoll. The islands are divided into: Inhabited islands - those officially recognized as towns, villages, fishing, and farming communities with permanent human habitation. They all have an island office and island chiefs (councilor and ...
Among the 1,190 islands in the Maldives, only 198 are inhabited. The population is scattered throughout the country, and the greatest concentration is on the capital island, Malé . Limitations on potable water and arable land , plus the added difficulty of congestion are some of the problems faced by households in Malé .