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Picture of the day - January 15, 2007
The Republic Of Maldives
Photo courtesy of Richard Hill.
In the Indian Ocean lies a group of 1,191 coral islands which
comprise the tiny nation of the Maldives. And when I say tiny, I
mean it - the entire combined land mass of the Maldives is only 115
square miles (about twice the size of Washington, DC). Only 1/6 of
the islands are inhabited, and with a population of less than
400,000 the Maldives is the smallest Asian nation.
But while the Maldivian islands are small, they offer visitors some
of the most beautiful scenery and perhaps the best climate of all
the world's tropical paradises. 80 of the islands are tourist
resorts and they are all generally booked up the year-round.
Like most Americans, I had never even heard of the Maldives before I
went into the Army. When I was in SOBC (Signal Officer Basic Course)
at Fort Gordon, Georgia, we had a number of officers from several
allied countries going through the training with us. My class had
three foreign students: a major from Jordan, a lieutenant from
Canada and a captain from the Maldives (the Maldives has no army or
navy, but it does have a catch-all National Defence Force).
One day during class the foreign officers took turns showing slides
of their respective countries, and the images displayed by the
Maldivian captain were simply breathtaking. Virtually every photo
featured a beautiful white sand beach, crystal clear water and one
of the most magnificent skies I had ever seen. When God was creating
the island paradises of the world he must surely have used the
Maldives as a template. Right then and there, I told myself that I
would visit those amazing islands some day, but for now I'll have to
settle for looking at the "Picture Of The Day".
About the photo: Today's picture was taken by photographer
Richard Hill. Here is his story behind the photo in his own words:
"This Picture was taken in October 2006 on one of the bigger
Maldivian Islands - Sun Island. This was one of the only nice days
having had 10 days of rain. The picture was taken with the intention
of capturing a postcard feel to it so I could show people at home."
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