Maldives is a Country.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Maldives
Mal-dives [mawl-deevz, mal-dahyvz]
a republic in the Indian Ocean, SW of India, consisting of about 2000 islands: British protectorate 1887–1965. 280,391; 115 sq. mi. (298 sq. km). Capital: Male.
Also called Maldive Islands.

Related forms:
Mal⋅div⋅i⋅an, [mawl-div-ee-uhn, mal‑]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives
The Maldives , (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ) or Maldive Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island country consisting of a group of atolls stretching south of India’s Lakshadweep islands between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago, and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.

http://www.innermaldives.com/faq.html

Maldives is some small scattered islands in the Indian Ocean, comprising about 2,000 or more single islands, across Equator, having an average temperature of 31 Degree Celsius. Indeed, Maldives do represent in Common Wealth and in United Nation. It’s a Democratic nation, holding a population width of about 310,000 people.