The enchanting coral archipelago known as Lakshadweep comprises ten inhabited and seventeen uninhabited islands, which lie about 200 to 400 kilometres off the Indian west coast in the Arabian Sea. The islands span from north to south for approximately 350 kilometres. The inhabitants of all the islands are ethnically very similar and speak a dialect of Malayalam, the language of the neighbouring Indian state of Kerala. The population numbering 50,000 is almost entirely Muslim, mainly Sunnites, apart from a smattering of Wahabis and Ahamadiyyas who are not very popular with the other population.