Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to
March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Terrain: flat with elevations only as high as 2.5 meters
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 10% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 84% other
Environment: 1,200 coral islands grouped into 19 atolls
Note: archipelago of strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
- People
Population: 217,945 (July 1990), growth rate 3.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)