Tours » most visited
Maldives : officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep Islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago. It stands in the Laccadive Sea, about 700 kilometres (430 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka and 400 kilometres (250 mi) south-west of India. During the colonial era, the Dutch referred to the country as "Maldivische Eilanden" in their documentation, while "Maldive Islands" is the anglicised version of the local name used by the British, which later came to be written "Maldives". Capital Malé , Area - Total 298 km2 , Population - January 2012 estimate 328,536 , Currency Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR) , Time zone (UTC+5) , Drives on the left , Calling code 960 .