World View

By KAREN RUSSO, ABC News, New Delhi

New Delhi – While some newly elected presidents are dealing with the financial crises clobbering their countries, others, such as Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed have other things on their minds, like buying a new country.

Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, was sworn into office today and will now govern a country known mainly as a beautiful honeymoon and tourist destination.

The Maldives comprises about 1,200 islands, most of which are less than three feet above sea level, which is why Nasheed is looking for some new land. The island nation, located off the southern tip of India, is the lowest in the world, making it greatly susceptible to any rise in sea levels. If climate change is as bad as predicted, much of the population of about 400,000 people will be living under water. Not good.

"Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people," Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, the president’s spokesman, told the BBC. "Any sea level rise could have a devastating effect on the people of the Maldives and their very survival."

The 41-year-old Nasheem is a former activist and political prisoner. He plans to spend some of the billions of tourism dollars on acquiring a new homeland, possibly in India or Sri Lanka.