Thulhaadhoo (Tuladu) is a small island located at the extreme south-western rim of South Maalhosmadulu Atoll (Baa Atoll) to the north-west of Male. It has long been renowned throughout the Maldives as an island of skilled lacquer-workers, and today this craft is enjoying a revival. Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.