The Maldives archipelago is located atop the Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean, which also forms a terrestrial ecoregion, together with the Chagos and the Lakshadweep.[14] With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level,[15] it is the world's lowest country, with even its highest natural point being the lowest in the world, at 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in).[15] Due to the subsequent risks posed by rising sea-levels, the government has pledged to make the Maldives a carbon-neutral country by 2019.[16]