Coral islands are special, because they are made up of the skeletons of living creatures called coral polyps.
Millions of these tiny animals build tough shell-like homes, one on top of another, to form a reef. If the sea bed rises, or the sea level falls even slightly, these reefs are left above the sea as islands.
A coral island is, therefore, a part of a coral reef. Coral islands are sometimes shaped like rings, and consist of low land, perhaps only a few metres above sea level, generally with coconut palms and surrounded by white coral sand beaches.
Most of the world’s coral islands are found in the Pacific Ocean and some in the Indian Ocean. One such coral island is Maldives.
