The island nation of Maldives is south of India in the Indian Ocean. The islands are small, and none rise more than 1.8 meters (6 feet) above sea level. Like necklaces draped along an undersea plateau, 1,200 coral islands—about 200 inhabited—form the Maldives. In 1968, three years after independence from Britain, the sultanate gave way to an Islamic republic. Tourism and fishing sustain the economy. In 2001 more than 460,000 tourists visited this tiny nation.