Indian Ocean

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The Indian Ocean
Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) (approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface).[1] It is bounded by Asia
Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica.[2] It is named after India.[3] The Indian Ocean
Ocean is known as Ratnākara (Sanskrit: रत्नाकर), "the mine of gems" in ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar (Hindi: हिन्द महासागर), in Hindi.[citation needed]

Contents

1 Geography

1.1 Marginal seas

2 Climate 3 Oceanography 4 Geology 5 Marine life 6 History

6.1 First settlements 6.2 Era of discovery 6.3 Industrial era 6.4 Contemporary era

7 Trade

7.1 Major ports and harbours

8 Bordering countries and territories 9 See also 10 References

10.1 Notes 10.2 Sources

11 External links

Geography[edit]

A -17th century- 1658 Naval
Naval Map by Janssonius depicting the Indian Ocean, India
India and Arabia.

The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1953 included the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim, but in 2000 the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the Indian Ocean, but included the northern marginal seas.[4] Meridionally, the Indian Ocean
Ocean is delimited from the Atlantic Ocean
Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°55'E, running south from the southernmost point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean
Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.[citation needed] The Indian Ocean
Ocean covers 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi), including the Red Sea
Red Sea and the Persian Gulf but excluding the Southern Ocean, or 19.5% of the world's oceans; its volume is 264,000,000 km3 (63,000,000 cu mi) or 19.8% of the world's oceans' volume; it has an average depth of 3,741 m (12,274 ft) and a maximum depth of 7,906 m (25,938 ft).[5] The ocean's continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres (120 mi) in width. An exception is found off Australia's western coast, where the shelf width exceeds 1,000 kilometres (620 mi). The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m (12,762 ft). Its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m (26,401 ft) deep; Sunda Trench
Sunda Trench has a depth of 7,258–7,725 m (23,812–25,344 ft). North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the main basin is covered by pelagic sediments, of which more than half is globigerina ooze. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments. Glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes.[citation needed] The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca and the Palk Strait. Seas include the Gulf of Aden, Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Australian Bight, Laccadive Sea, Gulf of Mannar, Mozambique
Mozambique Channel, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea
Red Sea and other tributary water bodies. The Indian Ocean
Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean
Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean.[citation needed] Marginal seas[edit]

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Marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean
Ocean include:

Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal Great Australian Bight Gulf of Mannar Gulf of Aden Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Tadjoura Gulf of Bahrain Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Khambat Gulf of Oman Indonesian Seaway (including the Malacca, Sunda and Torres Straits) Laccadive Sea Mozambique
Mozambique Channel Palk Strait
Palk Strait connecting Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal Persian Gulf Red Sea Sea of Zanj Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb
Bab-el-Mandeb connecting Arabian Sea Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz connecting Persian Gulf

Climate[edit] The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April; from May until October south and west winds prevail. In the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon
Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are generally milder, but summer storms near Mauritius
Mauritius can be severe. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.[citation needed] The Indian Ocean
Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, at about 0.7–1.2 °C (1.3–2.2 °F) during 1901–2012.[6] Indian Ocean
Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency and magnitude of El Niño
El Niño events are a trigger to this strong warming in the Indian Ocean.[6] Oceanography[edit]

Among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean
Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy. The ocean's currents are mainly controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise (including the Agulhas Current
Agulhas Current and Agulhas Return Current), constitute the dominant flow pattern. During the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and Antarctic
Antarctic currents. North of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C (72 °F), exceeding 28 °C (82 °F) to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly. Precipitation and evaporation leads to salinity variation in all oceans, and in the Indian Ocean
Ocean salinity variations are driven by: (1) river inflow mainly from the Bay of Bengal, (2) fresher water from the Indonesian Throughflow; and (3) saltier water from the Red Sea
Red Sea and Persian Gulf.[7] Surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa
Africa and south-western Australia. Pack ice and icebergs are found throughout the year south of about 65° south latitude. The average northern limit of icebergs is 45° south latitude. Geology[edit]

Bathymetric map of the Indian Ocean

Main category: Landforms of the Indian Ocean As the youngest of the major oceans,[8] the Indian Ocean
Ocean has active spreading ridges that are part of the worldwide system of mid-ocean ridges. In the Indian Ocean
Ocean these spreading ridges meet at the Rodrigues Triple Point
Rodrigues Triple Point with the Central Indian Ridge, including the Carlsberg Ridge, separating the African Plate
African Plate from the Indian Plate; the Southwest Indian Ridge
Southwest Indian Ridge separating the African Plate
African Plate form the Antarctic
Antarctic Plate; and the Southeast Indian Ridge
Southeast Indian Ridge separating the Australian Plate
Australian Plate from the Antarctic
Antarctic Plate.[citation needed] The Central Ridge runs north on the in-between across of the Arabian Peninsula and Africa
Africa into the Mediterranean Sea.[citation needed] A series of ridges and seamount chains produced by hotspots pass over the Indian Ocean. The Réunion hotspot
Réunion hotspot (active 70–40 million years ago) connects Réunion
Réunion and the Mascarene Plateau
Mascarene Plateau to the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge
Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the Deccan Traps
Deccan Traps in north-western India; the Kerguelen hotspot
Kerguelen hotspot (100–35 million years ago) connects the Kerguelen Islands
Kerguelen Islands and Kerguelen Plateau
Kerguelen Plateau to the Ninety East Ridge
Ninety East Ridge and the Rajmahal Traps
Rajmahal Traps in north-eastern India; the Marion hotspot (100–70 million years ago) possibly connects Prince Edward Islands to the Eighty Five East Ridge.[9] These hotspot tracks have been broken by the still active spreading ridges mentioned above.[citation needed] Marine life[edit] Among the tropical oceans, the western Indian Ocean
Ocean hosts one of the largest concentration of phytoplankton blooms in summer, due to the strong monsoon winds. The monsoonal wind forcing leads to a strong coastal and open ocean upwelling, which introduces nutrients into the upper zones where sufficient light is available for photosynthesis and phytoplankton production. These phytoplankton blooms support the marine ecosystem, as the base of the marine food web, and eventually the larger fish species. The Indian Ocean
Ocean accounts for the second largest share of the most economically valuable tuna catch.[10] Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna.[11] Research indicates that increasing ocean temperatures are taking a toll on the marine ecosystem. A study on the phytoplankton changes in the Indian Ocean
Ocean indicates a decline of up to 20% in the marine phytoplankton in the Indian Ocean, during the past six decades.[12] The tuna catch rates have also declined abruptly during the past half century, mostly due to increased industrial fisheries, with the ocean warming adding further stress to the fish species.[12] Endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales.[11] An Indian Ocean
Ocean garbage patch was discovered in 2010 covering at least 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles). Riding the southern Indian Ocean
Ocean Gyre, this vortex of plastic garbage constantly circulates the ocean from Australia
Australia to Africa, down the Mozambique
Mozambique Channel, and back to Australia
Australia in a period of six years, except for debris that get indefinitely stuck in the centre of the gyre.[citation needed] In 2016, UK researchers from Southampton University
Southampton University identified six new animal species at hydrothermal vents beneath the Indian Ocean. These new species were a "Hoff" crab, a "giant peltospirid" snail, a whelk-like snail, a limpet, a scaleworm and a polychaete worm.[13] History[edit]

The economically important Silk Road
Silk Road (red) and spice trade routes (blue) were blocked by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire in c. 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa
Africa was found, triggering the Age of Discovery.

First settlements[edit] The history of the Indian Ocean
Ocean is marked by maritime trade; cultural and commercial exchange probably date back at least seven thousand years.[14] During this period, independent, short-distance oversea communications along its littoral margins have evolved into an all-embracing network. The début of this network was not the achievement of a centralised or advanced civilisation but of local and regional exchange in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. Sherds of Ubaid (2500–500 BCE) pottery have been found in the western Gulf at Dilmun, present-day Bahrain; traces of exchange between this trading centre and Mesopotamia. Sumerian traded grain, pottery, and bitumen (used for reed boats) for copper, stone, timber, tin, dates, onions, and pearls.[15] Coast-bound vessels transported goods between the Harappa
Harappa civilisation (2600–1900 BCE) in India (modern-day Pakistan
Pakistan and Gujarat in India) and the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf and Egypt.[14] Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an Alexandrian guide to the world beyond the Red Sea — including Africa
Africa and India — from the first century CE, not only gives insights into trade in the region but also shows that Roman and Greek sailors had already gained knowledge about the monsoon winds.[14] The contemporaneous settlement of Madagascar
Madagascar by Indonesian sailors shows that the littoral margins of the Indian Ocean
Ocean were being both well-populated and regularly traversed at least by this time. Albeit the monsoon must have been common knowledge in the Indian Ocean
Ocean for centuries.[14] The world's earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (beginning with Sumer), ancient Egypt, and the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent (beginning with the Indus Valley civilization), which began along the valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile
Nile and Indus rivers respectively, all developed around the Indian Ocean. Civilizations soon arose in Persia (beginning with Elam) and later in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia (beginning with Funan).[citation needed] During Egypt's first dynasty (c. 3000 BCE), sailors were sent out onto its waters, journeying to Punt, thought to be part of present-day Somalia. Returning ships brought gold and myrrh. The earliest known maritime trade between Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley (c. 2500 BC) was conducted along the Indian Ocean. Phoenicians of the late 3rd millennium BCE
BCE may have entered the area, but no settlements resulted.[citation needed] The Indian Ocean's relatively calmer waters opened the areas bordering it to trade earlier than the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. The powerful monsoons also meant ships could easily sail west early in the season, then wait a few months and return eastwards. This allowed ancient Indonesian peoples to cross the Indian Ocean
Ocean to settle in Madagascar around 1 CE.[16] Era of discovery[edit] In the 2nd or 1st century BCE, Eudoxus of Cyzicus
Eudoxus of Cyzicus was the first Greek to cross the Indian Ocean. The probably fictitious sailor Hippalus
Hippalus is said to have discovered the direct route from Arabia
Arabia to India
India around this time.[17] During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD intensive trade relations developed between Roman Egypt
Egypt and the Tamil kingdoms of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas
Pandyas in Southern India. Like the Indonesian peoples above, the western sailors used the monsoon to cross the ocean. The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes this route, as well as the commodities that were traded along various commercial ports on the coasts of the Horn of Africa
Africa and India
India circa 1 CE. Among these trading settlements were Mosylon and Opone
Opone on the Red Sea
Red Sea littoral.[citation needed] Unlike the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean where the civilization of the Polynesians reached most of the far flung islands and atolls and populated them, almost all the islands, archipelagos and atolls of the Indian Ocean were uninhabited until colonial times. Although there were numerous ancient civilizations in the coastal states of Asia
Asia and parts of Africa, the Maldives
Maldives were the only island group in the Central Indian Ocean
Ocean region where an ancient civilization flourished.[18] Maldivian ships used the Indian Monsoon
Monsoon Current to travel to the nearby coasts.[19] From 1405 to 1433 Admiral Zheng He
Zheng He led large fleets of the Ming Dynasty on several treasure voyages through the Indian Ocean, ultimately reaching the coastal countries of East Africa.[20]

British heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged on 5 April 1942

In 1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and became the first European to sail to India
India and later the Far East. The European ships, armed with heavy cannon, quickly dominated trade. Portugal
Portugal achieved pre-eminence by setting up forts at the important straits and ports. Their hegemony along the coasts of Africa and Asia
Asia lasted until the mid 17th century. Later, the Portuguese were challenged by other European powers. The Dutch East India
India Company (1602–1798) sought control of trade with the East across the Indian Ocean. France
France and Britain established trade companies for the area. From 1565 Spain
Spain established a major trading operation with the Manila Galleons in the Philippines
Philippines and the Pacific. Spanish trading ships purposely avoided the Indian Ocean, following the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal. By 1815, Britain became the principal power in the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] Industrial era[edit] The opening of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal in 1869 revived European interest in the East, but no nation was successful in establishing trade dominance. Since World War II
World War II the United Kingdom was forced to withdraw from the area, to be replaced by India, the USSR, and the United States. The last two tried to establish hegemony[citation needed] by negotiating for naval base sites. Developing countries bordering the ocean, however, seek to have it made a "zone of peace"[citation needed] so that they may use its shipping lanes freely. The United Kingdom and United States
United States maintain a military base on Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] Contemporary era[edit] On 26 December 2004 the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean
Ocean were hit by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean
Ocean earthquake. The waves resulted in more than 226,000 deaths and over 1 million people were left homeless.[citation needed] In the late 2000s the ocean evolved into a hub of pirate activity. By 2013, attacks off the Horn region's coast had steadily declined due to active private security and international navy patrols, especially by the Indian Navy.[21] Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner with 239 persons on board, disappeared on 8 March 2014 and is alleged to have crashed into the southeastern Indian Ocean
Ocean about 2,000km from the coast of southwest Western Australia. Despite an extensive search, the whereabouts of the remains of the aircraft are unknown.[citation needed] Trade[edit] Main article: Indian Ocean
Ocean trade The sea lanes in the Indian Ocean
Ocean are considered among the most strategically important in the world with more than 80 percent of the world’s seaborne trade in oil transits through Indian Ocean
Ocean and its vital choke points, with 40 percent passing through the Strait of Hormuz, 35 percent through the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca and 8 percent through the Bab el-Mandab Strait.[22]

A dhow off the coast of Kenya

The Indian Ocean
Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia
Asia with Europe
Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oil fields of the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean.[11] Beach sands rich in heavy minerals, and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, Pakistan, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Major ports and harbours[edit] Main article: List of ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean The Port of Singapore
Port of Singapore is the busiest port in the Indian Ocean, located in the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca where it meets the Pacific. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Mormugao Port, Mundra, Port Blair, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Ennore, and Tuticorin are the major Indian ports. South Asian ports include Chittagong in Bangladesh, Colombo, Hambantota
Hambantota and Galle in Sri Lanka, Chabahar
Chabahar in Iran
Iran and ports of Karachi, Sindh
Sindh province and Gwadar, Balochistan
Balochistan province in Pakistan. Aden
Aden is a major port in Yemen
Yemen and controls ships entering the Red Sea. Major African ports on the shores of the Indian Ocean
Ocean include: Mombasa
Mombasa (Kenya), Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar
Zanzibar (Tanzania), Durban, East London, Richard's Bay
Richard's Bay (South Africa), Beira (Mozambique), and Port Louis
Port Louis (Mauritius). Zanzibar
Zanzibar is especially famous for its spice export. Other major ports in the Indian Ocean
Ocean include Muscat (Oman), Yangon
Yangon (Burma), Jakarta, Medan (Indonesia), Fremantle
Fremantle (port servicing Perth, Australia) and Dubai (UAE). Chinese companies have made investments in several Indian Ocean
Ocean ports, including Gwadar, Hambantota, Colombo
Colombo and Sonadia. This has sparked a debate about the strategic implications of these investments.[23]. India
India is heavily investing in the Chabahar
Chabahar port in Iran. Bordering countries and territories[edit] Small islands dot the continental rims. Island nations within the ocean are Madagascar
Madagascar (the world's fourth largest island), Bahrain, Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles
Seychelles and Sri Lanka. The archipelago of Indonesia
Indonesia and the island nation of East Timor
East Timor border the ocean on the east. Heading roughly clockwise, the states and territories (in italics) with a coastline on the Indian Ocean
Ocean (including the Red Sea
Red Sea and Persian Gulf) are: Africa

South Africa Mozambique Madagascar French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French Southern and Antarctic Lands (FRA) France
France ( Mayotte
Mayotte and Réunion) Mauritius Comoros Tanzania Seychelles Kenya Somalia Djibouti Eritrea Sudan Egypt

Asia

Israel Jordan Saudi Arabia Yemen Oman United Arab Emirates Qatar Bahrain Kuwait Iraq Iran Pakistan India Maldives British Indian Ocean
Ocean Territory (UK) Sri Lanka Bangladesh Myanmar Thailand Malaysia Singapore Indonesia Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (AUS) Christmas Island
Christmas Island (AUS) Timor-Leste

Australasia

Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Ashmore and Cartier Islands (AUS) Indonesia Australia

Southern Indian Ocean

Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (AUS) French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French Southern and Antarctic Lands (FRA) Prince Edward Islands
Prince Edward Islands (RSA)

See also[edit]

Environment portal Ecology portal Geography portal Weather portal

Iranrud List of islands in the Indian Ocean List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Indian Ocean Piracy in Somalia Indian Ocean
Ocean literature Indian Ocean
Ocean Research Group Indian Ocean
Ocean Naval
Naval Symposium

References[edit] Notes[edit]

^ Rais 1986, p. 33 ^ "'Indian Ocean' — Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online". Retrieved 7 July 2012. ocean E of Africa, S of Asia, W of Australia, & N of Antarctica
Antarctica area ab 73,427,795 square kilometres (28,350,630 sq mi) ^ Harper, Douglas. "Online Etymology Dictionary". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 18 January 2011. ^ IHO 1953; IHO 2002 ^ Eakins & Sharman 2010 ^ a b Roxy, Mathew Koll; Ritika, Kapoor; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sébastien (2014-09-11). "The Curious Case of Indian Ocean
Ocean Warming". Journal of Climate. 27 (22): 8501–8509. Bibcode:2014JCli...27.8501R. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00471.1. ISSN 0894-8755. ^ Han & McCreary Jr 2001, Introduction, p. 859 ^ Stow 2006, Map of Indian Ocean, p. 127 ^ Müller, Royer & Lawver 1993, Fig. 1, p. 275 ^ FAO 2016 ^ a b c CIA World Factbook 2015 ^ a b Roxy 2016 ^ "New marine life found in deep sea vents". BBC News. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016. ^ a b c d Alpers 2013, Chapter 1. Imagining the Indian Ocean, pp. 1–2 ^ Alpers 2013, Chapter 2. The Ancient Indian Ocean, pp. 19–22 ^ Fitzpatrick & Callaghan 2009 ^ UNESCO & Greatest Imporium ^ UNESCO 2004, Els maldivians: Mariners llegedaris, pp. 32–38 ^ Romero-Frias 2016 ^ Dreyer 2007, p. 1 ^ Bloomberg & 22 July 2013 ^ Diplomat, Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe, The. "Why the Indian Ocean Matters". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2017-08-22. ^ Brewster 2014

Sources[edit]

Alpers, E. A. (2013). The Indian Ocean
Ocean in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533787-7. Lay summary. Arnsdorf, Isaac (22 July 2013). "West Africa
Africa Pirates Seen Threatening Oil and Shipping". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 July 2013. Brewster, D. (2014). "Beyond the String of Pearls: Is there really a Security Dilemma in the Indian Ocean?". Journal of the Indian Ocean Region. 10 (2). doi:10.1080/19480881.2014.922350. Retrieved 25 July 2015. "Oceans: Indian Ocean". CIA – The World Factbook. 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Cabrero, Ferran (2004). "Cultures del món: El desafiament de la diversitat" (PDF) (in Portuguese). UNESCO. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Dreyer, E. L. (2007). Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 9780321084439. Eakins, B. W.; Sharman, G. F. (2010). "Volumes of the World's Oceans from ETOPO1". Boulder, CO: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. Retrieved 25 July 2015. El-Abbadi, M. "The greatest emporium in the inhabited world". UNESCO. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Fitzpatrick, S.; Callaghan, R. (2009). "Seafaring simulations and the origin of prehistoric settlers to Madagascar" (PDF). In Clark, G. R.; O'Connor, S.; Leach, B. F. Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, Seafaring and the Archaeology of Maritime Landscapes. ANU E Press. pp. 47–58. ISBN 9781921313905. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Han, W.; McCreary Jr, J. P. (2001). "Modelling salinity distributions in the Indian Ocean" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 106 (C1): 859–877. Bibcode:2001JGR...106..859H. doi:10.1029/2000jc000316. Retrieved 25 July 2015. "Limits of Oceans and Seas" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization, Special
Special Publication N°23. 1953. Retrieved 25 July 2015. "The Indian Ocean
Ocean and its sub-divisions". International Hydrographic Organization, Special
Special Publication N°23. 2002. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Müller, R. D.; Royer, J. Y.; Lawver, L. A. (1993). "Revised plate motions relative to the hotspots from combined Atlantic and Indian Ocean
Ocean hotspot tracks" (PDF). Geology. 21 (3): 275–278. Bibcode:1993Geo....21..275D. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<0275:rpmrtt>2.3.co;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Parker, Laura (April 2014). "Plane Search Shows World's Oceans Are Full of Trash". National Geographic News. Retrieved 25 July 2015. Rais, R. B. (1986). The Indian Ocean
Ocean and the Superpowers. Routledge. ISBN 0-7099-4241-9. Romero-Frias, Xavier (2016). "Rules for Maldivian Trading Ships Travelling Abroad (1925) and a Sojourn in Southern Ceylon". Politeja. 40: 69–84. Retrieved 22 June 2017. Roxy, M. K. (2016). "A reduction in marine primary productivity driven by rapid warming over the tropical Indian Ocean". Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (2). Bibcode:2016GeoRL..43..826R. doi:10.1002/2015GL066979. Retrieved 29 January 2016. Stow, D. A. V. (2006). Oceans: an illustrated reference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-77664-6. " Tuna
Tuna fisheries and utilization". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.

External links[edit]

Look up indian ocean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Indian Ocean
Ocean (category)

"The Indian Ocean
Ocean in World History" (Flash). Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center. Retrieved 25 July 2015. "The Indian Ocean
Ocean Trade: A Classroom Simulation" (PDF). African Studies Center, Boston University. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

v t e

Countries and territories bordering the Indian Ocean

Africa

Comoros Djibouti Egypt Eritrea France

Mayotte Réunion

Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Mozambique Rodrigues
Rodrigues (Mauritius) Seychelles Somalia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Zanzibar, Tanzania

Asia

Bangladesh British Indian Ocean
Ocean Territory

Chagos Archipelago
Chagos Archipelago - United Kingdom

Christmas Island
Christmas Island (Australia) Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) India Indonesia Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Oman Pakistan Sri Lanka Thailand Timor-Leste Yemen

Other

Antarctica

Australian Antarctic
Antarctic Territory French Southern and Antarctic
Antarctic Lands Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Australia

v t e

Regions of the world

v t e

Regions of Africa

Central Africa

Guinea region

Gulf of Guinea

Cape Lopez Mayombe Igboland

Mbaise

Maputaland Pool Malebo Congo Basin Chad Basin Congolese rainforests Ouaddaï highlands Ennedi Plateau

East Africa

African Great Lakes

Albertine Rift East African Rift Great Rift Valley Gregory Rift Rift Valley lakes Swahili coast Virunga Mountains Zanj

Horn of Africa

Afar Triangle Al-Habash Barbara Danakil Alps Danakil Desert Ethiopian Highlands Gulf of Aden Gulf of Tadjoura

Indian Ocean
Ocean islands

Comoros
Comoros Islands

North Africa

Maghreb

Barbary Coast Bashmur Ancient Libya Atlas Mountains

Nile
Nile Valley

Cataracts of the Nile Darfur Gulf of Aqaba Lower Egypt Lower Nubia Middle Egypt Nile
Nile Delta Nuba Mountains Nubia The Sudans Upper Egypt

Western Sahara

West Africa

Pepper Coast Gold Coast Slave Coast Ivory Coast Cape Palmas Cape Mesurado Guinea region

Gulf of Guinea

Niger Basin Guinean Forests of West Africa Niger Delta Inner Niger Delta

Southern Africa

Madagascar

Central Highlands (Madagascar) Northern Highlands

Rhodesia

North South

Thembuland Succulent Karoo Nama Karoo Bushveld Highveld Fynbos Cape Floristic Region Kalahari Desert Okavango Delta False Bay Hydra Bay

Macro-regions

Aethiopia Arab world Commonwealth realm East African montane forests Eastern Desert Equatorial Africa Françafrique Gibraltar Arc Greater Middle East Islands of Africa List of countries where Arabic is an official language Mediterranean Basin MENA MENASA Middle East Mittelafrika Negroland Northeast Africa Portuguese-speaking African countries Sahara Sahel Sub-Saharan Africa Sudan
Sudan (region) Sudanian Savanna Tibesti Mountains Tropical Africa

v t e

Regions of Asia

Central

Greater Middle East Aral Sea

Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee

Transoxiana

Turan

Greater Khorasan Ariana Khwarezm Sistan Kazakhstania Eurasian Steppe

Asian Steppe Kazakh Steppe Pontic–Caspian steppe

Mongolian-Manchurian grassland Wild Fields

Yedisan Muravsky Trail

Ural

Ural Mountains

Volga region Idel-Ural Kolyma Transbaikal Pryazovia Bjarmaland Kuban Zalesye Ingria Novorossiya Gornaya Shoriya Tulgas Iranian Plateau Altai Mountains Pamir Mountains Tian Shan Badakhshan Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass Mount Imeon Mongolian Plateau Western Regions Taklamakan Desert Karakoram

Trans- Karakoram
Karakoram Tract

Siachen Glacier

North

Inner Asia Northeast Far East

Russian Far East Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga

Extreme North Siberia

Baikalia
Baikalia (Lake Baikal) Transbaikal Khatanga Gulf Baraba steppe

Kamchatka Peninsula Amur Basin Yenisei Gulf Yenisei Basin Beringia Sikhote-Alin

East

Japanese archipelago

Northeastern Japan
Japan Arc Sakhalin Island Arc

Korean Peninsula Gobi Desert Taklamakan Desert Greater Khingan Mongolian Plateau Inner Asia Inner Mongolia Outer Mongolia China proper Manchuria

Outer Manchuria Inner Manchuria Northeast China Plain Mongolian-Manchurian grassland

North China Plain

Yan Mountains

Kunlun Mountains Liaodong Peninsula Himalayas Tibetan Plateau

Tibet

Tarim Basin Northern Silk Road Hexi Corridor Nanzhong Lingnan Liangguang Jiangnan Jianghuai Guanzhong Huizhou Wu Jiaozhou Zhongyuan Shaannan Ordos Loop

Loess Plateau Shaanbei

Hamgyong Mountains Central Mountain Range Japanese Alps Suzuka Mountains Leizhou Peninsula Gulf of Tonkin Yangtze River Delta Pearl River Delta Yenisei Basin Altai Mountains Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass

West

Greater Middle East

MENA MENASA Middle East

Red Sea Caspian Sea Mediterranean Sea Zagros Mountains Persian Gulf

Pirate Coast Strait of Hormuz Greater and Lesser Tunbs

Al-Faw Peninsula Gulf of Oman Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Aden Balochistan Arabian Peninsula

Najd Hejaz Tihamah Eastern Arabia South Arabia

Hadhramaut Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert

Tigris–Euphrates Mesopotamia

Upper Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia Sawad Nineveh plains Akkad (region) Babylonia

Canaan Aram Eber-Nari Suhum Eastern Mediterranean Mashriq Kurdistan Levant

Southern Levant Transjordan Jordan
Jordan Rift Valley

Israel Levantine Sea Golan Heights Hula Valley Galilee Gilead Judea Samaria Arabah Anti-Lebanon Mountains Sinai Peninsula Arabian Desert Syrian Desert Fertile Crescent Azerbaijan Syria Palestine Iranian Plateau Armenian Highlands Caucasus

Caucasus
Caucasus Mountains

Greater Caucasus Lesser Caucasus

North Caucasus South Caucasus

Kur-Araz Lowland Lankaran Lowland Alborz Absheron Peninsula

Anatolia Cilicia Cappadocia Alpide belt

South

Greater India Indian subcontinent Himalayas Hindu Kush Western Ghats Eastern Ghats Ganges
Ganges Basin Ganges
Ganges Delta Pashtunistan Punjab Balochistan Kashmir

Kashmir
Kashmir Valley Pir Panjal Range

Thar Desert Indus Valley Indus River
Indus River Delta Indus Valley Desert Indo-Gangetic Plain Eastern coastal plains Western Coastal Plains Meghalaya subtropical forests MENASA Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows Doab Bagar tract Great Rann of Kutch Little Rann of Kutch Deccan Plateau Coromandel Coast Konkan False Divi Point Hindi
Hindi Belt Ladakh Aksai Chin Gilgit-Baltistan

Baltistan Shigar Valley

Karakoram

Saltoro Mountains

Siachen Glacier Bay of Bengal Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Mannar Trans- Karakoram
Karakoram Tract Wakhan Corridor Wakhjir Pass Lakshadweep Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Andaman Islands Nicobar Islands

Maldive Islands Alpide belt

Southeast

Mainland

Indochina Malay Peninsula

Maritime

Peninsular Malaysia Sunda Islands Greater Sunda Islands Lesser Sunda Islands

Indonesian Archipelago Timor New Guinea

Bonis Peninsula Papuan Peninsula Huon Peninsula Huon Gulf Bird's Head Peninsula Gazelle Peninsula

Philippine Archipelago

Luzon Visayas Mindanao

Leyte Gulf Gulf of Thailand East Indies Nanyang Alpide belt

Asia-Pacific Tropical Asia Ring of Fire

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Regions of Europe

North

Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Fennoscandia Baltoscandia Sápmi West Nordic Baltic Baltic Sea Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Finland Iceland Faroe Islands

East

Danubian countries Prussia Galicia Volhynia Donbass Sloboda Ukraine Sambia Peninsula

Amber Coast

Curonian Spit Izyum Trail Lithuania Minor Nemunas Delta Baltic Baltic Sea Vyborg Bay Karelia

East Karelia Karelian Isthmus

Lokhaniemi Southeastern

Balkans Aegean Islands Gulf of Chania North Caucasus Greater Caucasus Kabardia European Russia

Southern Russia

Central

Baltic Baltic Sea Alpine states Alpide belt Mitteleuropa Visegrád Group

West

Benelux Low Countries Northwest British Isles English Channel Channel Islands Cotentin Peninsula Normandy Brittany Gulf of Lion Iberia

Al-Andalus Baetic System

Pyrenees Alpide belt

South

Italian Peninsula Insular Italy Tuscan Archipelago Aegadian Islands Iberia

Al-Andalus Baetic System

Gibraltar Arc Southeastern Mediterranean Crimea Alpide belt

Germanic Celtic Slavic countries Uralic European Plain Eurasian Steppe Pontic–Caspian steppe Wild Fields Pannonian Basin

Great Hungarian Plain Little Hungarian Plain Eastern Slovak Lowland

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Regions of North America

Northern

Eastern Canada Western Canada Canadian Prairies Central Canada Northern Canada Atlantic Canada The Maritimes French Canada English Canada Acadia

Acadian Peninsula

Quebec City–Windsor Corridor Peace River Country Cypress Hills Palliser's Triangle Canadian Shield Interior Alaska- Yukon
Yukon lowland taiga Newfoundland (island) Vancouver Island Gulf Islands Strait of Georgia Canadian Arctic
Arctic Archipelago Labrador Peninsula Gaspé Peninsula Avalon Peninsula

Bay de Verde Peninsula

Brodeur Peninsula Melville Peninsula Bruce Peninsula Banks Peninsula (Nunavut) Cook Peninsula Gulf of Boothia Georgian Bay Hudson Bay James Bay Greenland Pacific Northwest Inland Northwest Northeast

New England Mid-Atlantic Commonwealth

West

Midwest Upper Midwest Mountain States Intermountain West Basin and Range Province

Oregon Trail Mormon Corridor Calumet Region Southwest

Old Southwest

Llano Estacado Central United States

Tallgrass prairie

South

South Central Deep South Upland South

Four Corners East Coast West Coast Gulf Coast Third Coast Coastal states Eastern United States

Appalachia

Trans-Mississippi Great North Woods Great Plains Interior Plains Great Lakes Great Basin

Great Basin
Great Basin Desert

Acadia Ozarks Ark-La-Tex Waxhaws Siouxland Twin Tiers Driftless Area Palouse Piedmont Atlantic coastal plain Outer Lands Black Dirt Region Blackstone Valley Piney Woods Rocky Mountains Mojave Desert The Dakotas The Carolinas Shawnee Hills San Fernando Valley Tornado Alley North Coast Lost Coast Emerald Triangle San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay North Bay ( San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay Area) East Bay ( San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay Area) Silicon Valley

Interior Alaska- Yukon
Yukon lowland taiga Gulf of Mexico Lower Colorado River Valley Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta Colville Delta Arkansas Delta Mobile–Tensaw River Delta Mississippi Delta Mississippi River Delta Columbia River Estuary Great Basin High Desert Monterey Peninsula Upper Peninsula of Michigan Lower Peninsula of Michigan Virginia Peninsula Keweenaw Peninsula Middle Peninsula Delmarva Peninsula Alaska Peninsula Kenai Peninsula Niagara Peninsula Beringia Belt regions

Bible Belt Black Belt Corn Belt Cotton Belt Frost Belt Rice Belt Rust Belt Sun Belt Snow Belt

Latin

Northern Mexico Baja California Peninsula Gulf of California

Colorado River Delta

Gulf of Mexico Soconusco Tierra Caliente La Mixteca La Huasteca Bajío Valley of Mexico Mezquital Valley Sierra Madre de Oaxaca Yucatán Peninsula Basin and Range Province Western Caribbean Zone Isthmus of Panama Gulf of Panama

Pearl Islands

Azuero Peninsula Mosquito Coast West Indies Antilles

Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles

Leeward Leeward Antilles Windward

Lucayan Archipelago Southern Caribbean

Aridoamerica Mesoamerica Oasisamerica Northern Middle Anglo Latin

French Hispanic

American Cordillera Ring of Fire LAC

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Regions of Oceania

Australasia

Gulf of Carpentaria New Guinea

Bonis Peninsula Papuan Peninsula Huon Peninsula Huon Gulf Bird's Head Peninsula Gazelle Peninsula

New Zealand

South Island North Island

Coromandel Peninsula

Zealandia New Caledonia Solomon Islands (archipelago) Vanuatu

Kula Gulf

Australia Capital Country Eastern Australia Lake Eyre basin Murray–Darling basin Northern Australia Nullarbor Plain Outback Southern Australia

Maralinga

Sunraysia Great Victoria Desert Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf St Vincent Lefevre Peninsula Fleurieu Peninsula Yorke Peninsula Eyre Peninsula Mornington Peninsula Bellarine Peninsula Mount Henry Peninsula

Melanesia

Islands Region

Bismarck Archipelago Solomon Islands Archipelago

Fiji New Caledonia Papua New Guinea Vanuatu

Micronesia

Caroline Islands

Federated States of Micronesia Palau

Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru Northern Mariana Islands Wake Island

Polynesia

Easter Island Hawaiian Islands Cook Islands French Polynesia

Austral Islands Gambier Islands Marquesas Islands Society Islands Tuamotu

Kermadec Islands Mangareva Islands Samoa Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu

Ring of Fire

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Regions of South America

East

Amazon basin Atlantic Forest Caatinga Cerrado

North

Caribbean South America West Indies Los Llanos The Guianas Amazon basin

Amazon rainforest

Gulf of Paria Paria Peninsula Paraguaná Peninsula Orinoco Delta

South

Tierra del Fuego Patagonia Pampas Pantanal Gran Chaco Chiquitano dry forests Valdes Peninsula

West

Andes

Tropical Andes Wet Andes Dry Andes Pariacaca mountain range

Altiplano Atacama Desert

Latin Hispanic American Cordillera Ring of Fire LAC

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Polar regions

Antarctic

Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica West Antarctica Eklund Islands Ecozone Extreme points Islands

Arctic

Arctic
Arctic Alaska British Arctic
Arctic Territories Canadian Arctic
Arctic Archipelago Finnmark Greenland Northern Canada Northwest Territories Nunavik Nunavut Russian Arctic Sakha Sápmi Yukon North American Arctic

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Earth's oceans and seas

Arctic
Arctic Ocean

Amundsen Gulf Barents Sea Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea Greenland
Greenland Sea Gulf of Boothia Kara Sea Laptev Sea Lincoln Sea Prince Gustav Adolf Sea Pechora Sea Queen Victoria Sea Wandel Sea White Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Archipelago Sea Argentine Sea Baffin Bay Balearic Sea Baltic Sea Bay of Biscay Bay of Bothnia Bay of Campeche Bay of Fundy Black Sea Bothnian Sea Caribbean Sea Celtic Sea English Channel Foxe Basin Greenland
Greenland Sea Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Finland Gulf of Lion Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Saint Lawrence Gulf of Sidra Gulf of Venezuela Hudson Bay Ionian Sea Irish Sea Irminger Sea James Bay Labrador Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Marmara Sea Mediterranean Sea Myrtoan Sea North Sea Norwegian Sea Sargasso Sea Sea of Åland Sea of Azov Sea of Crete Sea of the Hebrides Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Wadden Sea

Indian Ocean

Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Bali Sea Bay of Bengal Flores Sea Great Australian Bight Gulf of Aden Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Oman Gulf of Suez Java Sea Laccadive Sea Mozambique
Mozambique Channel Persian Gulf Red Sea Timor
Timor Sea

Pacific Ocean

Arafura Sea Banda Sea Bering Sea Bismarck Sea Bohai Sea Bohol Sea Camotes Sea Celebes Sea Ceram Sea Chilean Sea Coral Sea East China Sea Gulf of Alaska Gulf of Anadyr Gulf of California Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Fonseca Gulf of Panama Gulf of Thailand Gulf of Tonkin Halmahera Sea Koro Sea Mar de Grau Molucca Sea Moro Gulf Philippine Sea Salish Sea Savu Sea Sea of Japan Sea of Okhotsk Seto Inland Sea Shantar Sea Sibuyan Sea Solomon Sea South China Sea Sulu Sea Tasman Sea Visayan Sea Yellow Sea

Southern Ocean

Amundsen Sea Bellingshausen Sea Cooperation Sea Cosmonauts Sea Davis Sea D'Urville Sea King Haakon VII Sea Lazarev Sea Mawson Sea Riiser-Larsen Sea Ross Sea Scotia Sea Somov Sea Weddell Sea

Landlocked seas

Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea Salton Sea

Book Category

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Hydrography of the Indian subcontinent

Inland rivers

Beas Betwa Bhagirathi Brahmaputra Chambal Chenab Damodar Godavari Gandaki Ganges Ghaghara Indus Jhelum Kali Kaveri Kosi Krishna Luni Mahanadi Mahaweli Meghna Narmada Padma Ravi Sarasvati Sankosh Sharda Son Sutlej Tapti Yamuna

Inland lakes, deltas, etc.

Ganges
Ganges Basin Ganges
Ganges Delta Indus Delta Dal Lake Pookode Lake Skeleton Lake Chilika Lake Lake Powai Borith Lake Saiful Muluk Gosaikunda Nizam Sagar Red Hills Lake Malampuzha Kerala backwaters Pulicat Lake

Coastal

Indian Ocean Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Mannar Laccadive Sea Palk Strait