Geography of Maldives
| Location: | Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India |
| Geographic coordinates: | 3 15 N, 73 00 E |
| Map references: | Asia |
| Area: | total: 300 sq km land: 300 sq km water: 0 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 straight baselines territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 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: 13.33% permanent crops: 30% other: 56.67% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | NA |
| 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, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution 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 |