Maldives Sinking: Truth or Myth? Facts and Timeline
Is the Maldives Sinking? Facts, History, and Timeline
The Maldives isn’t “sinking” in the literal sense—but it’s being overwhelmed by rising sea levels, making its future deeply uncertain.
The Maldives, a nation of over 1,000 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to its extremely low elevation—80% of its land is less than 1 meter above sea level, making it the flattest country on Earth.
The idea of the Maldives "sinking" refers primarily to rising sea levels from global warming, which cause gradual erosion, flooding, and saltwater intrusion rather than a literal subsidence of the land.
