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Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
The ancient rock fortress of Yapahuwa is similar to, but smaller than, Sigiriya. Dating from the 13th century, it was the capital and main stronghold of King Bhuvanekabahu I (1272 - 1284), who was resisting invasions from south India. Today a steep ornamental stairway leads up to a platform that once supported a temple which is thought to have served as a temporary repository for the holy tooth relic, now at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.<br/><br/> Yapahuwa was called Shubha-Giri in the Srilankan chronicles, lit. ‘The Auspicious Mountain’.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometers (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
Ko Sukorn is home to around 2,500 Thai Muslims, mainly fishing families, but also farmers growing coconuts, rice and rubber in the island’s fertile interior.<br/><br/> Trang province was dependent on tin mining until the first rubber seedlings were brought into Thailand around 1901 – part of a long journey from South America via the neighboring Malay States.<br/><br/> Rubber, palm oil and fishing are the mainstays of the province's economy. Tourism is making an increasing impact as Trang’s Anadaman Coast and islands are increasingly developed and popularized.
Ko Sukorn is home to around 2,500 Thai Muslims, mainly fishing families, but also farmers growing coconuts, rice and rubber in the island’s fertile interior.<br/><br/> Trang province was dependent on tin mining until the first rubber seedlings were brought into Thailand around 1901 – part of a long journey from South America via the neighboring Malay States.<br/><br/> Rubber, palm oil and fishing are the mainstays of the province's economy. Tourism is making an increasing impact as Trang’s Anadaman Coast and islands are increasingly developed and popularized.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
Ko Tao or Turtle Island, located in the midst of the Gulf of Thailand, was named by early settlers for the island’s hump-backed, turtle-like shape, though it is also a significant breeding ground for both Hawksbill and Green Turtles.<br/><br/> The economy of the island, which was once uninhabited except for transient fishermen, now revolves almost exclusively around tourism and scuba diving. The rapid development of tourism in recent years has had a negative impact on turtle breeding, but since 2004 the Royal Thai Navy in conjunction with a cooperative of local dive centers has sponsored the reintroduction of hundreds of juvenile turtles to Ko Tao’s ecosystem.<br/><br/> The island is about 21 sq km (8 sq miles) in area, and the main settlement, on the western side of the island, is Ban Mae Hat. Most of the island is rugged, with dense forest inland, quiet coves along the relatively difficult-to-reach east coast, and a fine sweep of sandy beach along the western shore.
Many Thai people believe that every house should have its own spirit house providing for the well-being of the locality spirit. These may be anywhere in the garden (even, in big cities, on the roof), with the important proviso that the shadow of human habitation should never fall on the spirit house, the home of the original and true owner of the land – the chao thii.<br/><br/> Naturally, this belief extends to shops and commerce as well. Scarcely a business in Thailand – from corner shop to multinational – is without at least one, and often two spirit houses. The first of these, raised on a pillar or in some high place, is purely Thai in origin. The second, generally to be found on the ground and decorated with Chinese characters and images of Confucian or Taoist sages, is purely Chinese and represents the pre-eminent position of Thai-Chinese in the world of commerce.
Ko Phangan is 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) north of its more famous neighbour Ko Samui, and, at 168 sq km (65 sq miles) about two-thirds of its size. The island has the same tropical combination of white, sandy beaches, accessible coral reefs and rugged, jungled interior. Once the haunt of budget travelers escaping from more expensive Ko Samui, it is today slowly moving more upmarket.<br/><br/> The island remains much less developed for international tourism than Ko Samui, due in part to its isolation and in part to its poor infrastructural system. The roads, in particular, remain poor, with many places along the coast only accessible by sea or by pickup truck or motorbike along badly maintained trails. The island is part of Surat Thani Province, and is currently administered, together with nearby Ko Tao to the north, as a subdistrict.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, is valued not just for its beauty, but also as a lucrative cash crop. Cultivated throughout the South Seas and Indian Ocean regions, it provides food, drink, shelter, transport, fuel, medicine, and even clothing for millions of people.<br/><br/> The coconut palm lives for around 60 years, and produces around 70-80 nuts annually. The trees are sometimes 40-50 meters (130-160 feet) high.
The Samui Archipelago was first ‘discovered’ as a budget traveler’s paradise back in the 1970s, but has since moved considerably upmarket. Together with Phuket, the main island of the group, Ko Samui, is Thailand’s premier beach resort, and is truly a lovely island.<br/><br/> The chief seaside destinations are Chaweng Beach on the island’s east coast and Lamai on the south coast. The island is ringed by a well-maintained metalled road, and the hilly interior is simply packed with more coconut trees than it seems possible to imagine.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometres (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).