The Tsunami Monument stands on the seafront near the Artificial Beach, commemorating the 82 Maldivians killed and the tens of thousands left homeless by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The Maldives, with no point of land more than two and a half metres above sea level, lost a third of its national income that morning. The monument is a cluster of stainless-steel rods rising from a low platform, with name plates set into the surrounding paving.
It is a quiet, sober spot — a few minutes' pause as you walk along the eastern waterfront. The view across to the airport island helps register the geography of a country in which the highest natural ground is the same as a one-storey house.