A: Maldives lies on the geographical coordinates of 3° 15' 0" N, 73° 0' 0" E.

Latitude and Longitude of Maldives in other units:

More detail about Maldives

Tourism Offering Backbone to Maldives

Maldives consists of 1,191 islands but only 200 of these are used for residency. The locals are scattered along these 200 islands. Throughout any of these particular inhabited islands, while fishing is one of the main industries, even more of the revenue is brought in by tourism. These areas see over 700,000 tourists each year.

After the tsunami that swept through a number of the islands, much of the area was ruined. The Maldivians did make a rather quick recovery and was able to get back its tourism part of the economy. Even the reconstruction of the country took place at a remarkable pace.

While there are scatterings of people throughout the 200 inhabited islands, there is a concentration of families on the Male?, which is the capital island. Expansion to other islands is restricted because of the limitations on available potable water, as well as ground that is able to be tilled for farm land.

The range between incomes of the Maldivians is very high especially between those of the capital island and the individuals that live on other islands. This being said, the growth that has occurred in any given area in the country is impressive. The social aspects as well are excellent with primary education standing at 100%, literacy rates at 97%.

While there have been large deficits to deal with, the country has been able to pay some of these debts. In 2010, there was an unexpected increase in the tourism levels which boosted revenue. A portion of this revenue went towards this debt. This trend of increased tourism is expected to continue throughout 2011.

Every country needs some type of industry to rely on. While there have been concerns about tsunamis in this country, the locals have always rebounded and created an even better place for tourists making this sector into its economical backbone.