File:Malosmadulu Atolls, Maldives (cropped to Meedhupparu in center).jpg

North and South Maalhosmadulu Atolls are in the Maldives, an island republic in the northern Indian Ocean, southwest of India. Maldives is made up of a chain of 1192 small coral islands that are grouped into clusters of atolls. It has a total area of 298 sq km and a population of about 330,000. The capital and largest city is Malé, with a population of about 80,000. Arguably the lowest-lying country in the world, the average elevation is 1 m above sea level. Waves triggered by the great tsunami of December 2004 spilled over sea walls to flood Malé with sand-clouded water and then swept out just as suddenly. Residents fear this was a foreboding of disasters to come from sea-level rise due to global warming. The simulated natural color ASTER image was acquired 22 December 2002, covers an area of 50.8 x 90.4 km, and is centered near 5.3 degrees north latitude, 73.9 degrees west longitude.

Please give credit for these images to: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

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