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Capitals of the world
Malé, capital of Maldives: facts and figures
Malé is the capital of Maldives. It has about 250,000 residents, which makes it the 154th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 0 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Colombo, 766 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Maldives |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 250,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 154th of 172 |
| Elevation | 0 m |
| Founded | 500 |
| Time zone | Indian/Maldives |
| Coordinates | 4.18° N, 73.51° E |
| Country population | 529,676 residents |
| Country GDP | 7.7 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $14,615 |
| Life expectancy | 81.3 years |
| Internet users | 85.2 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Malé averages 27.4 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August. November is the coldest month of the year and April the warmest, and the city receives 1,926 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 27.3 °C |
| February | 27.6 °C |
| March | 28.0 °C |
| April | 28.5 °C |
| May | 28.3 °C |
| June | 28.2 °C |
| July | 27.9 °C |
| August | 27.8 °C |
| September | 27.5 °C |
| October | 27.5 °C |
| November | 27.2 °C |
| December | 27.4 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Size: 3rd least populous capital in Asia (250,000 residents).
- Elevation: 2nd lowest-lying capital in the world (0 m).
- Winter: mildest capital in Asia (27.4 °C).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Colombo is the closest capital to Malé.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Colombo | Sri Lanka | 766 km |
| Muscat | Oman | 2,699 km |
| New Delhi | India | 2,744 km |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | 2,837 km |
| Kathmandu | Nepal | 2,901 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Malé to a place and a number you already know: it is 766 km from Colombo, and it is the 154th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Maldives compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Malé is the capital of Maldives, in Asia, with about 250,000 residents, averaging 27.4 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Maldives?
Malé is the capital of Maldives. It has about 250,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Malé?
About 250,000, which ranks Malé 154th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Malé?
Malé averages 27.4 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August, with 1,926 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Malé?
GDP per capita in the country is $14,615, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka: facts and figures
Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka: 750,000 residents, 8 m above sea level, 26.3 °C from December to February and 26.8 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Muscat, capital of Oman: facts and figures
Muscat is the capital of Oman: 1,700,000 residents, 21 m above sea level, 21.8 °C in winter and 34.3 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- New Delhi, capital of India: facts and figures
New Delhi is the capital of India: 32,900,000 residents, 217 m above sea level, 14.9 °C in winter and 30.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.