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GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian
Ocean, south-southwest of India
Geographic coordinates: 3 15 N, 73 00 E
Area: total: 300 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 300 sq km
Area - comparative: about 1.7 times the
size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 644 km
Maritime claims: measured from claimed
archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; dry,
northeast monsoon (November to March); rainy,
southwest monsoon (June to August)
Terrain: flat, with white sandy beaches
Elevation extremes: lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on
Wilingili island in the Addu Atoll 2.4 m
Natural resources: fish
Land use: arable land: 3.33%
permanent crops: 6.67%
other: 90% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: low level of islands
makes them very sensitive to sea level rise
Environment - current issues: depletion
of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies;
global warming and sea level rise; coral reef
bleaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the
selected agreements
Geography - note: 1,190 coral islands
grouped into 26 atolls (200 inhabited islands,
plus 80 islands with tourist resorts);
archipelago with strategic location astride and
along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
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Design & Develop by shareef |
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