where are the maldives

The Maldives is an independent island country located in the north-central Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, approximately 750 kilometers (470 miles) from the Asian continent's mainland. The country consists of a chain of 26 atolls made up of around 1,190 coral islands, stretching about 800 kilometers from north to south and around 120 kilometers from east to west. The Maldives is the smallest Asian country by land area, with about 298 square kilometers of land spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers of ocean. Its capital city, Malé, is situated on one of the islands in the North Malé Atoll