Malé, the capital of the Maldives, is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The entire capital is confined to a single island in the Kaafu Atoll, covering only about 8 square kilometers. Because there is no room for the city to grow outward, it has grown upward, with colorful skyscrapers tightly packed together. The Maldives is the world's lowest-lying country, with an average ground level of just 1.5 meters above sea level, making Malé highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. To combat this, the government has created an artificial island called Hulhumalé nearby to provide more space for housing and industry. Malé is the commercial heart of the country, famous for its bustling fish market and the 17th-century Hukuru Miskiy (Friday Mosque) built from carved coral stone. The nation consists of 1,192 coral islands, of which only about 200 are inhabited, making it a unique example of an 'archipelagic state' completely dependent on its marine environment.