The Maldives, despite high economic growth and social progress, continues to face significant development challenges such as the vulnerability of the island population and the wide disparities in income and access to social services and infrastructure, particularly between the capital, Male, and the outer atolls. The assessment presents a Vulnerability Index especially tailored for the Maldives, where large distances exist between remote islands and the nearest economic centre and where vulnerability of the island population is extremely critical to overall development. The analysis provides insights into poverty dynamics in the country, including those who escaped poverty and others who fell back in to it, or new entrants. The survey results were used extensively in the response to the tsunami, both for the situation assessment and for emergency planning. The Vulnerability and Poverty Survey shows that the Maldives has made immenseprogress in reducing both income and non-income poverty.