Geography Bits – Maldives and other “Sinking Nations”

Tourist ad for the Maldives

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from http://www.justluxe.com/inpictures/gallery.php?cid=1732316

I was looking online for updated information about the Maldives, and found this photo that was in scoop.it from my friend Gabriella just posted today!  Great minds do work alike.  LOL.

The Maldives is a group over 1,192 islands.  Most are very small, and are very close to sea level.  They are beautiful, and remote islands, neighbors to Sri Lanka.

The weather is mild and warm all year long, and the islands are not in the path of the monsoons.  Tourism is a valuable industry on the Maldives, and guests are pampered.  There is a wide variety of resorts to choose from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from http://www.visitmaldives.com/en

Of course not all the people are wealthy.  The island people are rich in culture and family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from http://www.visitmaldives.com/en

Malhosmadulhu Atoll seen from space. From Wikipedia

 

 

 

I was inspired to research Maldives by my friend’s post at Sri Lanka News last week.    http://srilankanewsonline.com/who-will-control-maldives-territory-if-maldive-islands-sink-in-the-sea/#comment-28057  The Maldives are very low to sea level, and if they sink, what will happen to their people, government?  Maldives is a next door neighbor to the Maldives.

I had heard of other islands before in similar circumstances.  This story on NPR is about Kiribati people from the South Pacific who were relocated to a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. http://www.npr.org/011/02/17/133681251/preparing-for-sea-level-rise-islanders-leave-home

Tuvalu has also been in the news because of the situation of losing it’s land to the sea.  They are being very proactive with alternative energy and trying to reduce global warming.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/sinking-island-nation-of-_n_241134.html

Losing land to rising water is a big problem for our future.  Not only the politics, but the practical issues for the families involved.

One of the possibilities, is to purchase land from India to establish the Maldive’s nation.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Maldives/Sinking-Maldives-would-like-to-buy-land-in-India/Article1-744926.aspx

Resources:

http://www.visitmaldives.com/en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mv.html

http://srilankanewsonline.com/who-will-control-maldives-territory-if-maldive-islands-sink-in-the-sea/#comment-28057

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/sinking-island-nation-of-_n_241134.html

http://www.scoop.it/t/gabby-gabs/p/1320519713/the-maldives-a-natural-beauty

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Maldives/Sinking-Maldives-would-like-to-buy-land-in-India/Article1-744926.aspx

Sally K Witt
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