Maldives

The Maldives are a group of 26 Atolls located in the Indian Ocean numbering 1,192 islands.
The Capital of the Maldives is Male situated on the King’s Island.

The Maldives are part of an underwater mountain chain stretching north south from Sri Lanka, known as the Chagos Laccadive Ridge.
The Coconut Tree is recognised as the most important plant in the Maldives.
It is the National Tree of the Maldives, and is on the National Emblem and coat of arms.

The Romans referred to the Maldives as ‘Divi’.

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st Century CE)
- mentions the Maldives.
Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE)
- states that they did not use the stars to navigate between the Maldive islands.
Philostorgius: (368-439 CE)
- mentions a man called Theophilus Indus, who was an Arrian Bishop appointed to the See of Abyssinia, Yemen and Socotra.
- Philostorgius refers to him as being a Roman Hostage from Divi (The Maldives), (presumably the son of the King of the Maldives), who returned eventually to his homeland.

Below the Maldives is a chain of seven Atolls called the Chagos Islands, which includes Diego Garcia.

Above the Maldives is a chain of twelve Atolls called the Lakshadweep, which includes Minicoy.
Lakshadweep is Sanskrit for one hundred thousand islands, which probably referred to the entire group of islands.
They were previously known as the Laccadive, Minicoy and Aminidivi Islands.

Minicoy is an island that was originally part of the Maldives, but now forms part of the Lakshadweep, a Territory of India.
Minicoy lies between two important Sea Lanes known as the Ninth Degree Channel and the Eighth Degree Chanel.
The most important fishing industry on Minicoy is Tuna fishing.

This is a 124 mile (200km) Channel produced by a gap between Minicoy and its neighbouring islands to the North.
Its name derives from its position on the Ninth Parallel of Latitude.
The Sea Lane for all shipping passing from the eastern Indian Ocean to the Western Indian Ocean is the Nine Degree Channel.

This refers to the Channel between Minicoy and the Maldive Islands to the South.
Its name is derived from its position on the Eighth Parallel of Latitude. It is also known as Maliku Kandu. It forms the International Border between India and the Maldives.

Maldives, Indian Ocean: