MALE, Maldives - The tidal waves that swept across the Indian Ocean did more than take a heavy toll of lives and property in the Maldives - it confronted the tiny island nation with a threat to its survival.

The archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands, dotted across hundreds of miles of ocean, has for years begged bigger, more powerful nations for action against global warming, fearing higher sea levels could literally make much of its territory disappear.

The speeding walls of water that slammed into 11 nations in Asia and Africa on Sunday, killing tens of thousands of people, marked a brutal demonstration of vulnerability.

"We are the world's lowest-lying country," said Mohammed Zahir, one of the country's leading environmentalists. "The average height of our islands is one meter (three feet)."

At a schoolyard converted into a disaster area on the main island of Male, sobbing people waited Tuesday for news of relatives from outlying islands. At least 52 people were confirmed dead, among them two British tourists, and 66 were listed as missing.

Ahmed Shaheed, the chief government spokesman, expected the figures to rise after authorities make contact with distant atolls. Although the number of casualties is small compared to huge tallies in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, they are comparable in proportion to Maldives' tiny population of 280,000.

"Our nation is in peril here," Shaheed said. "Life as we know it in this country is in some parts gone. Thailand, Sri Lanka, India - these are big countries with a lot of land area. They can bounce back from disasters like this. For us, it's not so easy."

Shaheed estimated the economic cost of the disaster at hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. The Maldives's annual gross domestic product is $660 million.

Kandolhudhoo, an island of 3,500 people in the northern atoll of Raa, was "uninhabitable" after being completely covered by water, Assistant Island Chief Mohammed Ali Fulhu told the Haveeru newspaper.

Residents were evacuated. Rather than trying to rebuild their island, the people would probably have to start new lives elsewhere, Fulhu said.

Ten thousand people have been evacuated to other islands, where authorities are working to prevent outbreaks of disease.

The country will also continue building physical defenses against the sea. Breakwaters built around Male after monsoon flooding in 1987 may have reduced the impact of this week's tsunami.