Geography of the Maldives
Template:Short description Template:Pp-pc Template:Use dmy dates Template:Country geography Maldives is an island country in the Indian Ocean, South Asia, south-southwest of India. It has a total land size of Template:Convert which makes it the smallest country in Asia. It consists of approximately 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making this one of the most geographically dispersed countries in the world. It has the 31st largest exclusive economic zone of Template:Convert.Template:Citation needed Composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, the atolls are situated atop a submarine ridge, Template:Convert long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of Maldives.<ref name=":0" /> For administrative purposes the Maldives government organized these atolls into twenty-one administrative divisions.<ref>Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee, Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. G.Sōsanī. Malé 1999</ref>
The largest island of Maldives is Gan, which belongs to Laamu Atoll or Hahdhummathi Maldives.<ref>Hasan A. Maniku, The Islands of Maldives. Novelty. Male 1983</ref> In Addu Atoll the westernmost islands are connected by roads over the reef and the total length of the road is Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Physical geography
[edit]
Most atolls of the Maldives consist of a large, ring-shaped coral reef supporting numerous small islands. Islands average only one to two square kilometers in area, and lie between Template:Convert above mean sea level.<ref name=":0" /> Although some of the larger atolls are approximately Template:Convert long from north to south, and Template:Convert wide from east to west, no individual island is longer than eight kilometers.<ref>Hasan A. Maniku, Changes in the Topography of the Maldives. Novelty. Male 1990</ref>
The Maldives has no hills, but some islands have dunes which can reach Template:Convert above sea level, like the NW coast of Hithadhoo (Seenu Atoll) in Addu Atoll. The islands are too small to have rivers, but small lakes and marshes can be found in some of them.Template:Citation needed
On average, each atoll has approximately 5 to 10 inhabited islands; the uninhabited islands of each atoll number approximately 20 to 60.<ref name=":0" /> Some atolls, however, consist of one large, isolated island surrounded by a steep coral beach. The most notable example of this type of atoll is the large island of Fuvahmulah situated in the Equatorial Channel.<ref name=":0" />
The tropical vegetation of Maldives differs in the inhabited and in the uninhabited islands. Inhabited islands have small groves of banana, papaya, drumstick and citrus trees by the homesteads, while breadfruit trees and coconut palms are grown in available patches of land. On the other hand, uninhabited islands have mostly different kinds of bushes (magū, boshi) and mangroves (kuredi, kandū) along the waterline as well as some coconut trees.<ref>Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. 1999, Template:ISBN</ref>
Some islands are marshy, while others are higher owing to sand and gravel having been piled up by wave action.Template:Citation needed Often the soil is highly alkaline, and a deficiency in nitrogen, potash, and iron severely limits agricultural potential.<ref name=":0" /> Ten percent of the land, or about 26 km2, is cultivated with taro, bananas, coconuts, and other fruit.<ref name=":0" /> Only the lush island of Fuvammulah produces fruits such as oranges and pineapples – partly because the terrain of Fuvammulah sits higher than most other islands, leaving the groundwater less subject to seawater penetration.<ref name=":0" /> However, as population grows, even in this island the cultivated areas are shrinking rapidly.Template:Citation needed
Freshwater floats in a layer known as "Ghyben/Herzberg lens" above the seawater that permeates the limestone and coral sands of the islands.<ref name=":0" /> These lenses are shrinking rapidly on Male and on many islands where there are resorts catering to foreign tourists.<ref name=":0" /> Mango trees already have been reported dying on Male because of salt penetration.<ref name=":0" /> Most residents of the atolls depend on groundwater or rainwater for drinking purposes.<ref name=":0" />
Climate
[edit]
The temperature of Maldives ranges between Template:Convert throughout the year.<ref name=":0" /> Although the humidity is relatively high, the constant sea breezes help to keep the air moving.<ref name=":0" /> Two seasons dominate Maldives' weather: the dry season associated with the winter northeast monsoon and the rainy season brought by the summer southwest monsoon.<ref name=":0" /> Because the Maldives is the lowest country anywhere in the world, with the highest elevation in the island nation being slightly less than 8 feet, the temperature is constantly high and rarely falls below 25 °C (77 °F), even at night.Template:Citation needed The annual rainfall averages Template:Convert in the north and Template:Convert in the south.<ref name=":0" />
The weather in Maldives is affected by the large landmass of South Asia to the north.<ref name=":0" /> The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water.<ref name=":0" /> Scientists also cite other factors in the formation of monsoons, including the barrier of the Himalayas on the northern fringe of the South Asia and the sun's northward tilt, which shifts the jet stream north.<ref name=":0" /> These factors set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over the South Asia, resulting in the southwest monsoon.<ref name=":0" /> The hot air that rises over the South Asia during April and May creates low-pressure areas into which the cooler, moisture-bearing winds from the Indian Ocean flow.<ref name=":0" /> In Maldives, the wet southwest monsoon lasts from the end of April to the end of October and brings the worst weather with strong winds and storms.<ref name=":0" /> In May 1991 violent monsoon winds created tidal waves that damaged thousands of houses and piers, flooded arable land with seawater, and uprooted thousands of fruit trees.<ref name=":0" /> The damage caused was estimated at US$30 million.<ref name=":0" />
The shift from the moist southwest monsoon to the dry northeast monsoon over the South Asia occurs during October and November.<ref name=":0" /> During this period, the northeast winds contribute to the formation of the northeast monsoon, which reaches Maldives in the beginning of December and lasts until the end of March.<ref name=":0" /> However, the weather patterns of Maldives do not always conform to the monsoon patterns of the South Asia.<ref name=":0" /> Rain showers over the whole country have been known to persist for up to one week during the midst of the dry season.<ref name=":0" />
Climate change
[edit]Area and boundaries
[edit]
Area:
total:
Template:Convert
land:
298 km2
water:
0 km2
Coastline: Template:Convert
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea:
Template:Convert
contiguous zone:
Template:Convert
exclusive economic zone:
Template:Convert
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point:
unnamed location on Vilingili Island in the Addu Atoll Template:Convert. The Maldives have the lowest high-point of any country in the world.
Resources and land use
[edit]Natural resources:<ref name="CIA World Factbook">CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 1 May 2009</ref> fish
Land use:
arable land:
10%
permanent crops:
10%
other:
80% (2011)
Irrigated land: 0 km2 (2003)
Total renewable water resources: 0.03 km3 (2011)
Environmental concerns
[edit]Natural hazards:
tsunamis; low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea level rise.
Some scientists fear it could be underwater by 2050 or 2100. The UN's environmental panel has warned that, at current rates, sea level would be high enough to make the country uninhabitable by 2100.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
President Mohamed Nasheed aims to turn the Maldives into an entirely carbon neutral nation by 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Environment – current issues: depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies, global warming and sea level rise, coral reef bleaching<ref name="CIA World Factbook"/>
Environment – international agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution<ref name="CIA World Factbook"/>
Flooding
[edit]Statistics
[edit]- Position: degree of latitude: 07° 06'30" N to 00° 41'48" S and degree of longitude: 72° 32'30" E to 73° 45'54" E westside of India and Sri Lanka.
- Range: in length approx. 750 km (from north to south) / in width approx. 120 km (from west to east)
- Land territory: 1,196 mostly deserted islands with a total area of approx. 298 km2.
- The islands are in average 1.8 m above sea level.
- Distances: shortest distance to India: approx. 340 km and to Sri Lanka approx. 700 km.
Nearest nation
[edit]See also
[edit]- Atolls of the Maldives, for an in-depth description of the atolls
References
[edit]Template:Maldives topics Template:GeoSouthAsia Template:Asia topic Template:Geography of Asia