Government of Maldives
![Government of Maldives Government of Maldives](https://www.cweic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SP__Government-of-Maldives.png)
Maldives is a low-lying island country in the north-central Indian Ocean. Its closest neighbours are India, about 600 kilometres north-north-east, and Sri Lanka, about 645 kilometres north-east.
It is made up of around 1,200 small coral islands and sandbanks. Around 200 of these are inhabited. Barrier reefs protect the islands.