Did You Know These About Maldives?

The Flattest Country
 Maldives has taken its place in the world as the country with the lowest height. The highest point of the country above sea level is 2.4 meters, while the average altitude is 1.8 meters. The highest region is in Addu Atoll on Vilingili Island in the southern part of the country.

Atol and Ataolhu
 The only word derived from Maldives as the English word is 'atoll'. The word atoll, defined as a ring-shaped coral reef surrounding a shallow lagoon, comes from the Maldivian atholhu. Atholhu refers to an administrative district that will usually cover one or more atolls.

The Longest Road
 The longest road in the Maldives is 14 km long. The road in Addu Atol connects four different islands. - The longest road was built by the British with the invasion of Gan Island during World War II.

Fastest Growing Island
 The fastest growing island in the Maldives is called Thilafushi or Trash island. The island's garbage is collected daily by trucks. This garbage is constantly used for land filling, upgrading to expand the island.

Protected Marine Areas
 25 underwater regions are under protection in the Maldives. This protection against overfishing in popular diving sites was brought in the mid-1990s. The first 15 protected water zones were declared on June 5, 1995, on the World Environment Day. In October 1999, it was announced that the other 10 underwater areas would be under protection.

Sharks
 Although there are sharks in the Maldives, there has been no shark attack in the country in the last 32 years due to the characteristics of the living species.

Highest and Lowest Temperature
 The highest temperature in the country was recorded at the Kadhdhoo Meteorology Office as 36.8 degrees, felt on May 19, 1991. The lowest temperature was felt on April 11, 1978 and was recorded in the National Meteorology Center as 17.2 degrees.

Coconut Threads
 Portuguese traders of the 1500s quickly realized that coconuts were abundant in the Maldives. Threads derived from coconut shell's outer fibers were widely used as ship rope, considered the best rope of the time as it did not degrade like the material of other ropes.

Shipwreck
 The Maldives has a history of shipwrecks that occurred on numerous unmapped or unmarked reefs comprised of 862 kilometers of long atoll chains. Estimates say there have been 'hundreds' of accidents in the last few centuries. Today, many shipwrecks are visited by divers at popular diving sites.

Coca Cola
 There is the only Coca-Cola factory in the world that produces drinks with a different aroma from sea water on Thulusdhoo Island in North Male.

Drinking water
 Although sea water is abundant in the Maldives, getting drinking water is an expensive business. Resorts rely on industrial-sized desalination units that convert seawater into drinking water through a process known as reserve-osmosis. The capital Male, home to over 100,000 people, also relies on desalination for clean drinking water.

Islanders traditionally use shallow freshwater lenses one meter below the coral sands. While some islands still have access to clean ground water, other islands rely on rainwater harvesting during the rainy season, collect rainwater on rooftops and store it in rainwater tanks. Many islands have shared rainwater tanks that are allocated during the dry, hot months of the year during low rain periods.

World's Largest Marine Airplane Operator
 With 45 De Havilland Seaplanes and 181 pilots, Trans Maldivian Airlines - or TMA as it is known - has arguably the most beautiful scenic flights in the world.