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The islands of Maldives persuade tourists
with promises of 'the last paradise on
earth', and if your idea of paradise is
white sand beaches with turquoise waters
glistening, tropical gardens exploding in
beautiful color and picture perfect sunsets
igniting the sky, then the Maldives will
never let you down. It's also a major
destination for scuba divers, who come for
the magnificent coral reefs and the wealth
of marine life.
Ptolemy, the Greek geographer describes the
Maldives as a multitude of islands. Ancient
Chinese navigators, referring to the maze of
lagoons and reefs that require great care in
navigation, knew it as the Three Thousand
Weak Waters. Marco Polo, the Venetian
traveler, found the islands to be "the
flower of the Indies". For Ibn Batuta, who
traveled extensively during the 14th century
and actually lived on the islands, the
Maldives was "one of the wonders of the
world".
It is believed that these unique coral
atolls were formed about 65 to 200 million
years ago from the crust of a deceased
volcanic mountain range. The atolls (the
word atoll was adapted to English from its
Maldivian origin "atholhu") are formed from
coral barrier reefs. The part of the reefs
which protrude from the sea form into
islands, as destroyed coral parts gather
thus giving them the attribute of white
sandy beaches. Having being protected by the
reefs, the lagoons are calm and
crystal-clear with abundant species of fish
and coral.
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