Maldives
consists of approximately 1,200 coral
islands grouped in a double chain of twenty-seven
atolls. Composed of live coral
reefs and sand bars, these atolls
are situated atop of a submarine ridge 960 kilometers
long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian
Ocean and runs from north to south.
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. For administrative
purposes the Maldives government organized these atolls
into nineteen administrative divisions.
Most
atolls 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 one and 1.5 meters above mean sea
level. The highest island is situated at three meters
above sea level. Maldives has no hills or rivers.
Although some larger atolls are approximately fifty
kilometers long from north to south, and thirty kilometers
wide from east to west, no individual island is longer
than eight kilometers.
Each
atoll has approximately five to ten inhabited islands;
the uninhabited islands of each atoll number approximately
twenty to sixty. Several 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 Fua Mulaku
situated in the middle of the Equatorial Channel.
The
tropical vegetation of Maldives comprises groves of
breadfruit trees and coconut palms towering above
dense scrub, shrubs, and flowers. The soil is sandy
and highly alkaline,
and a deficiency in nitrogen,
potash, and iron severely limits agricultural potential.
Ten percent of the land, or about 2,600 hectares,
is cultivated with taro, bananas, coconuts, and other
fruit. Only the lush island of Fua Mulaku produces
fruits such as oranges and pineapples partly because
the terrain of Fua Mulaku is higher than most other
islands,
leaving the groundwater less subject to seawater penetration.
Freshwater
floats in a layer, or "lens," above the
seawater that permeates the limestone and coral sands
of the islands. These lenses are shrinking rapidly
on Male and on many islands where there are resorts
catering to foreign tourists. Mango trees already
have been reported dying on Male because of salt penetration.
Most residents of the atolls
depend on groundwater or rainwater for drinking purposes.
Concerns over global warming and a possible long-term
rise in sea level as a result of the melting of polar
ice are important issues to the fragile balance between
the people and the environment of Maldives in the
1990s.
