Introduction
The Republic of Maldives lies in the Indian Ocean, 417 miles South West of Sri Lanka. The islands are 750 kilometres (475 miles) from North to south along the 73rd eastern longitude, and 183 Kilometres (80 miles) from east to west. Spread across a vast area of 90,000 square kilometres, with a land area of 298 square kilometres (111 square miles). The percentage of land, in this island nation is 0.33%.
The archipelago comprises 1,195 coral islands of which 195 inhabited. It is difficult to estimate the number of islands, since new ones are being formed and being washed away. The islands are formed naturally in twenty-six geographic Atolls, but for administrative purposes, they are grouped into 20 units.
Formation
The Maldives is formed on the tip of a volcanic mountain range/ mid oceanic ridge that runs along the Indian Ocean. Geographically the Laccadives and the Chagos are also part of the Maldives.
Darwin proposed that the ring shaped atolls were coral reefs growing around mountains. When the mountain subsided it left the reefs, which were covered with sand, and later colonised by plants and animals.
The coral layer which has grown on the volcanic rock is now 2100 meters thick, according to a survey conducted by Esso in 1980. Coral grow a few millimetres an year, so you can imagine the time it would have taken for the formation.
Climate
The climate of the Maldives is warm all year round. Since it is located on the equator (which cuts through the Huvadhu channel) there is not much variation in the weather patterns. The atmospheric temperature ranges from 32-26 degrees Celsius. The ocean temperature is very consistent at 28-29 degrees.
There is two seasons which is governed by the monsoon winds, the dry season ‘Iruvai’ and the wet season ‘Hulhangu’. During Iruvai season the wind blows from the North-East. The winds which originate over the Asian continent are dry and there is very little cloud formation. During Hulhangu season the wind blow from the South-West. The winds originate over the Ocean and are very humid, which assists in formation of large amount of clouds.
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