SANDEE Researchers

Maldives

As of 2014 the population of Maldives numbered some 338,000 spread across its 1,192 islands. At 298 kilometers square, Maldives is the smallest country in Asia. In fact, it has more territorial sea than land area. Only 10% of its land area is arable. Economic growth has been driven by the presence of the sea and the country's situation on strategic shipping routes. Nature-based tourism and fishing have contributed to its $2.2 billion GDP (2014). The GNI per capita is the highest in South Asia at $5,750 (2014). Maldives faces environmental challenges that include the depletion of freshwater aquifers, the rise of sea levels, increases of sea surface temperatures, frequency and intensity increases in both droughts and storms, and the acidification of its seawater.