Little official mapping is available in the Republic of the Maldives, but increasing tourist interest in the chain of 1,200 coral atolls in the eastern Indian Ocean has encouraged recent small-scale commercial mapping. British agencies have been responsible for most mapping prior to independence in 1965, and a legacy of large scale plans has been left. For example in 1974 the Directorate of Overseas Surveys (now Ordnance Survey International (OSI)) compiled large scale coverage with funding from the World Health Organization, to cover Male, the most important island in the group. These comprised nine sheets at 1:1,000 scale, with street names, and 23 sheets at 1:500 scale without the names but with spot heights. The Maldives agency currently responsible for surveying and mapping of the islands is the Ministry of Construction and Public Works.
Soviet military topographic mapping of the Maldives exists at the following scale: 1:1,000,000 (3 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1979). This product is available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
Charting of the Maldives has been carried out by the British Hydrographic Office (HO).
Two German commercially published maps from Berndtson and Berndtson (B&B) and Ryborsch provide the best overviews of the country. Both include numerous larger scale insets and descriptive guides to tourist islands.
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