The Maldive Islands are a republic consisting of a group of 26 atolls (ringlike coral formations enclosing a lagoon) and over a thousand of other islets, in the Laccadive Sea of the Indian Ocean, of which 250 islands are inhabited. The Maldives stretch south from Indias Lakshadweep islands and are around 700 km south west of Sri Lanka. The population of the Maldives is some 360000 and the area is around 90000 sq km of which only 300 sq km is above water.
The Maldives has an average ground level of only 1.5 metres above sea level, and is the country with the lowest high point of only 2.3 m, and as such is highly vulnerable to global warming and rising sea levels. The barrier reefs of the islands protect them from the storms and high waves of the Indian Ocean, which acts to moderate the tropical heat, which is also cooled by sea breezes. Due to salty ground near the beach only a few plant types grow, but in the interior more vegetation such as mangrove and banyan grow, and the ubiquitous coconut palm.