Land use: arable land: 10% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 3% forest and woodland: 3% other: 84%
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Environment:
current issues: depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water
supplies
natural hazards: low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea
level rise
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified -
Law of the Sea
Note: 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls; archipelago of
strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
@Maldives:People
Population: 261,310 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (female 60,038; male 63,042)
15-64 years: 50% (female 63,526; male 67,020)
65 years and over: 3% (female 3,537; male 4,147) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.58% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 42.8 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)