The problems of environment and development in small, archipelagic states such as the Republic of the Maldives differ considerably from those of land locked or coastal states with large land areas.
Marine resources underpin both the traditional lifestyle and the development of the cash economy.
The modern economy has a narrow base dependent upon the direct exploitation of marine resources for export and indirectly as the basis for the tourist industry. The Maldives consists of 1,190 islands stretching in a chain 820 km in length through an Exclusive Economic Zone of 90,000 km2. The need for decentralisation of development activity is a key feature of Government policies designed to encourage development in the atolls. Aggregation of the population compounds problems of freshwater supply, solid waste disposal and sewage contamination of the marine environment. Environmental degradation combined with recent extreme flooding events have highlighted the need for sound environmental management to achieve sustainable development.