Maldives
The Republic of Maldives is an archipelagic country, located in the Indian Ocean southwest of India and Sri Lanka, and is chain of 26 atolls that stretches across the equator. It is the smallest country in Asia with only 298 square kilometers, but is spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making it one of the world’s most spatially dispersed sovereign states. It is the second least populous country in Asia, but also one of the most densely populated. The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of around 1.5 meters above sea level, and a highest natural point of only 2.4 meters, making it the world’s lowest-lying country. Some sources state the highest point is 5.1 meters. The county’s captal is Male, and is located on the southern tip of the North Male atoll. The population in Male was 170,000 in 1983 when I first visited, and in 2026 it has grown to about 530,000.
I visited have visited the Maldives two times in combination with Sri Lanka tours; the first in January 1983, and the second in January 1988 – both in the North Male atoll.
(Click on av photo below to go to selected visit)
