FACTBOX - Island paradise of Maldives in political upheaval

REUTERS - Mohammed Nasheed, former president of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives was sitting inside his house on Thursday awaiting arrest, after being ousted from his post in what he said was a coup.

Nasheed, popularly known as Anni, said on Wednesday he had been forced out of power at gunpoint, prompting clashes between police and angry supporters.

Here are some facts about the islands:

ECONOMY: Major industries are tourism and fisheries. Tourism made up by far the most of nearly 30 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)in 2011, according to provisional estimates, down from a peak of nearly 35 percent in 2007.

-- There were nearly 800,000 tourists in 2010 and nearly 600,000 in the first eight months of 2011.

Some numbers: 2009 2010 2011

GDP (million US$) 1,387 1,524 1,650

GDP per Capita (US$) 3,605 3,872 4,061

Annual Growth Rate -6.5 9.9 8.3

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:

Infant mortality rate:

Total: 27.45 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: 74.45

Total population: 330,000

CORRUPTION:

Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the Maldives as 134 out of 183 countries along with Lebanon, Eritrea and Guyana.

SOME HISTORY:

-- The Maldives gained independence from Britain in 1965. Some seven years later the first island resort was developed and tourists began arriving.

-- Mohammed Nasheed became the country's first democratically elected president in 2008. The former political prisoner defeated incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who had been in office for 30 years.

COUNTRY DETAILS:

The Maldives are made up of more than 1,190 coral islands grouped into what are known as atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

ETHNICITY: South Indians, Sinhalese, Arabs

RELIGION - Sunni Muslim

Sources: Reuters/www.maldives.org/http://www.planning.gov.mv/Statesmans

Yearbook 2012

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)