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Concept
Indian Ocean
Summary
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form Oceanus Orientalis Indicus ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the Eastern Ocean, a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the Western Ocean (Atlantic) before the Pacific was surmised.
The Hindi name for the Ocean is हिंद महासागर (; ).
Conversely, Chinese explorers (e.g., Zheng He during the Ming dynasty) who traveled to the Indian Ocean during the 15th century called it the Western Oceans.
In Ancient Greek geography, the Indian Ocean region known to the Greeks was called the Erythraean Sea.
The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1953 included the Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim but in 2002 the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the Indian Ocean but included the northern marginal seas. Meridionally, the Indian Ocean is delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°49'E, running south from South East Cape on the island of Tasmania in Australia. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean (including marginal seas) is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.
The Indian Ocean covers , including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf but excluding the Southern Ocean, or 19.5% of the world's oceans; its volume is or 19.
Official source
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