Geography |
The Republic of Maldives, located in the northern Indian Ocean about 600 km south-west of the southern tip of India, is made up of a chain of more than 1 200 small coral islands that are grouped into clusters of atolls. It has a total area of only 298 km2.
The low-lying coralline islands have only small tracts of arable land. The soil is poor, and coconut, Cocos nucifera palms and breadfruit trees dominate the vegetation.
The climate is oceanic tropical, hot and humid. The average annual temperature is 26.7° C, with little seasonal variation. The average annual precipitation varies from about 2 500 mm in the north to about 3 800 mm in the south, most of which falls between May and November.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.