Maldives: population, cities
Population
According to Countryaah website, the Maldives have approx. 345,000 residents.
Ethnic composition
Sinhalese, Dravidians, Arabs and Africans live in the Maldives.
Religious
affiliation Mainly Sunni Muslims live in the Maldives.
National language
The national language of the Maldives is Divehi. The script is of Arabic origin and is called Thaana.
Capital, other cities
Malé
The capital of the Maldives is Malé on the South Malé Atoll with a population of approx. 124,000. According to Abbreviation Finder, MDV stands for Maldives in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym. Other cities are:
- Hithadhoo with around 10,000 residents
- Fuvammulah with around 8,000 residents
- Kulhudhuffushi with around 7,500 residents
- Thinadhoo with around 5,000 residents
Maldives: geography, map
The Maldives are located in the Indian Ocean, about 700 km southwest of India. They consist of around 1,190 islands in the Indian Ocean. The length of the island state is around 750 km – with a width of around 120 km. The Maldives are among the popular holiday destinations. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Maldives.
Surface
The Maldives are an archipelago of around 1,190 islands in the Indian Ocean. The length of the island state is around 750 km – with a width of around 120 km.
The Maldives cover a total land area of 300 km² and a water area of around 89,700 km² – so a total area of around 90,000 km².
Of the land area are:
- ForestAround 3% of the country is forested.
- Meadow, pasture landAround 3% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
- Fields and fieldsAround 10% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing millet, maize, sweet potato and sugar cane.
Maldives islands
The 1,190 islands are spread over 19 archipelagos and 26 atolls. About 220 islands are inhabited by locals and there are tourist resorts on about 90 islands. The islands that make up the Maldives have a sea coast with a length of around 644 km.
A selection of the atolls
- Haa Alifu Atoll
- Haa Dhaalu Atoll
- Shaviyani Atoll
- Noonu Atoll
- Raa Atoll
- Baa atoll
- Lhaviyani Atoll
- Kaafu Atoll
- Alifu Atoll
- Vaavu Atoll
- Meemu Atoll
- Faafu atoll
- Dhaalu Atoll
- Thaa atoll
- Laamu Atoll
- Gaafu Alifu Atoll
- Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll
- Gnaviyani Atoll
- Seenu Atoll
Longitude and latitude
The Maldives extend over the following geographical latitude (abbr. Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbr. Δλ):
Δφ = from around 0 ° to 06 ° 48` north latitude Δλ = from around 072 ° 50` to 074 ° east longitude |
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.
Legal time
For the Maldives, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:
Δt (CET) = + 4 h |
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.
The highest point of the sun in Malé
Male lies at a north latitude of around φ = 04 ° and thus in the middle of the tropics.
If the declination of the sun has a value of 04 ° north, and thus the image point of the sun is exactly above Malé, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 15 days after March 21st and 15 days before September 21st.
Attention
If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Malé, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.
Surveys
The highest natural (nameless) elevation is on Wilingili Island in the Addu Atoll with a height of just over 2.4 m.
With a height of over 15 m, a mountain of rubble and rubbish in Male is the highest (artificial) elevation in the island state.
The Indian Ocean
The islands of the Maldives are completely surrounded by the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean covers an area of 74.9 million km², making it the third largest ocean after the Pacific and the Atlantic. The vast majority of this ocean is in the southern hemisphere. It has its greatest depth of 8,047 m in the so-called Diamantina Deep.