Irrigated land:
NA
Natural hazards:
low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea level rise
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:
359,008 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43.4% (male 80,113/female 75,763)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 98,040/female 94,029)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 5,477/female 5,586) (2006 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.9 years
male: 17.8 years
female: 18 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.78% (2006 est.)