The Maldives is a country of many small islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka. People know them for bright beaches and clear water. The capital is Malé, a tiny, very crowded island. The land is extremely low and flat, so if the sea rises much, a lot of the country could disappear under water — that is why the Maldives is so often in talk about a warming world. We usually say the Maldives, with the, like the Netherlands. Some people treat the name as plural (the Maldives are…) and some as singular (the Maldives is…); both are used. It is not named after diving, even though many visitors come to swim and dive.