Capital:Male
Population:349,106
Area:300 sq km
Climate:tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Languages:Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials
Currency:rufiyaa (MVR)
Government:republic
Religions:Sunni Muslim
Source: CIA World Factbook 2007
