About Maldives
The Maldives are a delightful cluster of equatorial coral islands floating like emeralds in the deep blue of the Indian Ocean. The most common features are tall palms, soft white sandy beaches, turquoise lagoons and crystal clear waters.
The Maldives has all the ingredients for a perfect retreat: desert islands, clear warm waters, thriving coral reefs and an almost limitless variety of marine life. Its turquoise lagoons and magnificent coral drop-offs make it an ideal place to observe the beauty of this quiet and slow moving "inner universe". There are well over a thousand species of fish around these islands and 200 or so species of coral. Of the 1190 islands only 202 are populated and you may when traveling through the Maldives come across an island which bears no name, is not shown on any map, and has no human footprint on its shores.
In some of these delightful islands you will stay in wooden bungalows on stilts which stretch out over the water. Others have beautiful terraces above the lagoon where you can watch the reef fish in the translucent water below. Wherever you stay you will awake to the rustle of the breeze in the palms and the distant pounding of the surf on the reef.
The islands are a paradise for divers and a new collection for marine biologists. A majority of the islands have diving schools and offer you the service of professional diving instructors. There are numerous diving sites throughout the country. Some are ranked among the best in the world.
- Language: Divehi
- Currency: rufiyaa
- Capital: Malé
- Population: 270,758 (1996)
- Area: 298 sq km/115 sq mi
- Official name: Republic of the Maldives