Maldives, officially the Republic of the Maldives and referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea region. The country is made up of 27 atolls between the Chagos Archipelago and Minicoy Island, 250 miles southwest of India. In 2014, Maldives has an estimated population of 394,000, which ranks 175th in the world.