Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa

A double string of 1,190 coral islands to the southwest of Sri Lanka, stretching north to just south of the equator, make up the Republic of Maldives. This archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 130 kilometres (81 miles) at its widest point and 820 kilometres (510 miles) in length, is also the flattest in the world, with the highest natural land less than 2.4 metres (8 feet) above sea level.

Grouped into 26 atolls – ring-shaped coral formations enclosing a lagoon, which provide a natural defence against wind and wave – the Maldives covers a total area of 859,000 square kilometres (331,661 square miles), yet only 1% of this is land. Not surprisingly, this aquatic nation is considered one of the top 10 diving spots in the world. With only 200 inhabited islands and an additional 98 islands developed exclusively as tourist resorts, tourism is the dominant support for the economy.

Malé is the capital of the Republic of Maldives, an island 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) long and 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) wide. Though built to the edge, Malé is clean and quaint, with markets, mosques and a maze of small streets that approximately 103,000 people call home. A pleasant 25-minute speedboat ride from Malé International Airport, visitors are welcomed to the enchanting island of Kuda Huraa, where Four Seasons awaits.