The tiny islands make Maldives the perfect retreat for a secluded holiday RELATED VIDEO CNN's Anita Pratap brings you to the Maldives Windows Media 28K 56K

From CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Anita Pratap

KARUMBA VILLAGE, Maldives (CNN) -- Emerald isles, silvery beaches and turquoise lagoons. And now, increasingly, tourist destination. This is Maldives.

Like jewels gracing the Indian Ocean, the 19 coral atolls that make up the Maldivian islands have begun to shine, attracting visitors from all over the world.

"We have not seen a country as beautiful as Maldives. It's really a paradise," said one tourist.

The islands are located about 400 miles (645 kilometers) southwest of Sri Lanka. They are small -- barely a kilometer long and a quarter of that in width.

The beauty of Maldives isn't only on the surface. The waters surrounding the islands are like natural aquariums, with coral reefs and brightly colored schools of fish.

It's no wonder that tourists and divers have been flocking to Maldives.

The tourism industry is only 26 years old, but it has grown rapidly. In 1972, Maldives had 1,000 tourists. Now, the islands get almost 400,000 a year.

The local economy is now heavily dependent on tourism.

"Forty percent of the government budget is financed through tourism, and 70 percent of the total foreign exchange is earned through tourism," said Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, minister of planning.

Maldives is a Muslim nation. It allows resorts to be built only on uninhabited islands and permits tourists to visit inhabited islands only for a few hours, to lessen the impact of tourism on its culture.

But one village woman said she welcomes tourists.

"I have no fears that my three children will be spoiled by tourists. In fact, they learn a lot from them and we have been able to earn a lot of money by selling souvenirs," she said.

There is still room for that tourism industry to grow. Resorts have been built on only 74 of the nation's 1,000 uninhabited islands.