Living in the Maldives | How Life Works in the Flattest Country on Earth | 4K Travel Documentary

The highest point in the Maldives sits about 2.4 meters above the sea. That's lower than a basketball hoop, and more than two million tourists still fly there every year. This is a deep dive into the smallest country in Asia: around 1,190 coral islands spread across 26 atolls, home to about half a million people. The resorts you see on screensavers are real. So is a very different daily life on the local islands, a few kilometers away. In this video: Why a lot of that famous white sand went through a parrotfish first The sea demon legend behind the islands' conversion to Islam in 1153 The night in 1988 when about 80 mercenaries tried to take over Malé Why a Maldivian bartender can pour you a cocktail but never legally drink one The world's first generational tobacco ban, which applies to tourists too Fuvahmulah, a whole atoll made of a single island, patrolled by tiger sharks Why foreigners can't actually buy land there 00:00 Lower than a basketball hoop 00:33 The smallest country in Asia 01:39 How atolls are born 04:49 Atoll by atoll 06:36 Buddhists, sultans and coups 11:16 Life on a local island 14:09 The real tourism economy 17:17 Island time and strange laws 20:08 Tuna for breakfast 22:05 Can you move there? 24:03 Maldives vs. America 25:07 Will it survive the sea? Which one surprised you more, the parrotfish sand or the underwater cabinet meeting? Tell me in the comments, and subscribe for the next country deep dive.