Country · Asia
Maldives
Republic of the Maldives
The Maldives is a country in Southern Asia. About 516 000 people live there, in an area of 300 square kilometres. Its capital city is Malé.
Picture credit: Akuujang (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ushau97 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Maldives?
The Maldives lies in Southern Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 362 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 644 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is the Maldives?
The Maldives covers 300 square kilometres.
Luxembourg is about 8.6 times bigger.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 186th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 1 719 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in the Maldives?
About 516 000 people live in the Maldives.
That is the 166th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Maldivian.
They pay with the Maldivian rufiyaa (.ރ).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 62 years.
The land of the Maldives
The land of the Maldives sits on average 2 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 644 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 32 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes the Maldives different?
Websites from here often end in .mv.
The Maldives and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in the Maldives.
It takes up less than a hundredth of one per cent of all the land in the world.
Within Asia the country ranks 46th of 46 by size, and 45th by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in the Maldives: Giant oceanic manta ray, Stony coral and Tiger shark. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Villingili, at 5 metres.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is the Maldives compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 31 242 times as big as the Maldives: 9 372 610 km² against 300 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 810 times as big as the Maldives: 242 900 km² against 300 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of the Maldives?
The capital of the Maldives is Malé. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in the Maldives?
About 516 000 people live in the Maldives, which makes it the 166th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is the Maldives?
The Maldives covers 300 square kilometres, making it the 186th largest country in the world. Luxembourg is about 8.6 times bigger.
What is the highest mountain in the Maldives?
The highest mountain in the Maldives is Mount Villingili, 5 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
Are there rivers in the Maldives?
The Maldives has no permanent river. The ground is porous, so rain sinks straight in or runs to the sea in channels that stay dry most of the year. The water comes from rain tanks, wells or desalination plants.
Which continent is the Maldives in?
The Maldives is in Asia, in the part called Southern Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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