Environment - current issues: depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies; global warming and sea level rise; coral reef bleaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls (200 inhabited islands,
plus 80 islands with tourist resorts); archipelago with strategic
location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean
People Maldives
Population:
329,684 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.9% (male 75,991; female 71,826)
15-64 years: 52.1% (male 87,734; female 84,150)
65 years and over: 3% (male 5,073; female 4,910) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.3 years
male: 17.2 years
female: 17.4 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
2.91% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
36.71 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
7.65 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)