The Maldives is an independent island country located in the north-central Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India. It lies about 750 kilometers (470 miles) from the Asian continent's mainland

. The country consists of approximately 1,200 small coral islands and sandbanks, grouped into 26 atolls that stretch across roughly 90,000 square kilometers of ocean. Of these islands, around 200 are inhabited

. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia by land area, with a total landmass of about 298 square kilometers spread over a vast area of sea

. Its geographic coordinates are approximately 4°11′N latitude and 73°31′E longitude

. In summary, the Maldives is an archipelagic nation in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India, made up of numerous coral islands and atolls dispersed over a large oceanic area