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Location: body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean,
Asia, and Australia
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S, 80 00 E
Map references: World
Area:
total: 68.556 million sq km
note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great
Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Mozambique Channel,
Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Strait of Malacca, and other tributary water
bodies
Area - comparative: about 5.5 times the size of the US
Coastline: 66,526 km
Climate: northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest
monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June
and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February
in the southern Indian Ocean
Terrain: surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad,
circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique
reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric
pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results
in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents,
while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter
air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest
winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean
Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest
Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m
highest point: sea level 0 m
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand
and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
Environment - current issues: endangered marine species
include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in
the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Geography - note: major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb,
Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez
Canal, and the Lombok Strait
Background: A spring 2000 decision by the International
Hydrographic Organization delimited a fifth world ocean from the
southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific
Ocean.
The new ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees
south latitude which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit.
The Indian Ocean remains the third-largest of the world's five oceans
(after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the
Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean).
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