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Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean is the third largest of earth's four
oceans, (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic
Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean) which
extends from South Asia to Antarctica and from
East Africa to South East Australia.
Area: Total
area of the Indian Ocean is 73,427,000 sq km
(28,350,000 sq mi). It includes the Arabian Sea,
Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, Red Sea,Gulf of Oman,
Strait of Malacca, Great Australian Bight,
Mozambique Channel, and other tributary water
bodies which constitutes about 20% of the world's
total ocean area.
Depth: The
average depth of the Indian Ocean is 3,900 m
(12,800 ft), or slightly greater than that of the
Atlantic, and the deepest known point is 7,725 m
(25,344 ft), off the southern coast of the
Indonesian island of Java.
Islands:The
Indian Ocean contains numerous islands, the
largest of which are Madagascar and Sri Lanka.
Smaller islands include the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands; the Seychelles and the Kerguelen Islands
are exposed tops of submerged ridges. The
Lakshadweep (Laccadives), the Maldives, and the
Chagos are low coral islands, and Mauritius and
Réunion are high volcanic cones.
Rivers: The
Indian Ocean receives the waters of the Zambezi,
Tigris-Euphrates, Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and
Irrawady rivers. The surface waters of the ocean
are generally warm, although close to Antarctica
pack ice and icebergs are found. The southwest
monsoon draws moisture from the Indian Ocean and
drops heavy rainfall on the Indian subcontinent
and Southeast Asia.
Economy: The
Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting
the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe
and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy
traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from
the oil fields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia.
Its fish are of great and growing importance to
the bordering countries for domestic consumption
and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan,
Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean,
mainly for shrimp and tuna. An estimated 40% of
the world's offshore oil production comes from the
Indian Ocean.
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