 The coral atoll equivalent of a continental shelf is the shallow coral floors surrounding the islands and within the coral basins and lagoons.The total land (not immersed) area of the islands is about 300 km2, and the total coral shelf area is about 35,000 km2.This shelf area is large compared to the land area (120 times larger), but still small compared to deep ocean part of the Maldivian EEZ (30 times smaller).