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(From the Introduction)
From the airplane, a fabulous panaorama stretches out before my eyes.
The Maldives, nothing more than so many dots on the endless seascape
of the Indian Ocean. Green islands surrounded by vibrant rings of
sand extend across an emerald green lagoon, which further out
plunges down into the dark blue of the abyss. The realm of a
thousand islands is a translation of the word Maldive, of Sanskrit
origin. Located about 800 km to the southwest of Sri Lanka, these
islands stretch in a narrow line of atolls that cut the equator.
Extending 760 km from north to south and 130 km east to west, a
truly vast territory, but with a rediculously small total land area
of only 298 sq. km. There are more than one thousand islands,
subdivided among nineteen atolls, that form this country, only two
hundred of these islands are inhabited.
The Maldives are
considered to be a classic region of atolls, including the largest
ones that can be found on the planet. They are one of the most
coral-rich regions in the world, composed of over 70 species,
especially the acroporians, which take first-place as reef builders.
These same reefs, along with their excellent location in the Indian
Ocean, are responsible for the enormous wealth and variety of the
marine life forms of the archipelago. - Kurt Amsler |
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