Eydhafushi Island, in Baa Atoll (South Maalhosmadulu Atoll), was once renowned for its feyli or sarong weavers. Eydhafushi is the capital of Baa Atoll. 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.