Maldives may seek to buy a new homeland if country sinks under the ocean

A bit of a serious story here about the nation of Maldives and how it is preparing for a future in which it might sink underneath the sea and have to find a new homeland.

The president, a human rights activist who swept to power in elections last month after ousting Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the man who once imprisoned him, said he had already broached the idea with a number of countries and found them to be "receptive".

He said Sri Lanka and India were targets because they had similar cultures, cuisines and climates. Australia was also being considered because of the amount of unoccupied land available.

"We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades," he said.

Of course, not having a country doesn't necessarily entail living in tents, as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta can attest.

The Maldives has an area of almost 300 sq. km though, which is less than half that of Singapore, which has over 700. But Singapore had less than 600 sq. km of land back in the 1960s and is continuing to grow, with an expected extra 100 sq. km by 2030. What's preventing the Maldives (or at least the capital Malé) from embarking on a similar project?

Edit: see, here's one example.