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Indian Ocean Facts

Indian Ocean Facts
The Indian Ocean is bordered by Asia to its north, Australia to its east, the Southern Ocean to its south, and Africa to its west. It covers approximately 27,240,000 square miles. This is equivalent to 20% of the water found on the surface of the earth. The Indian Ocean is named after the country India. The Indian Ocean is the warmest of the world's oceans, and it is continuously warming at a rapid pace, three times faster than the Pacific Ocean's waters. This may be due to greenhouse warming, caused by human activity around the world.
Interesting Indian Ocean Facts:
The average depth of the Indian Ocean is 12,274 feet and its maximum depth is 25,938 feet.
The maximum width of the Indian Ocean is 6,200 miles.
In ancient Sanskrit the Indian Ocean is known as 'Ratnakara', which means 'the mine of gems'.
The deepest point in the Indian Ocean is Diamantina Trench, which reaches 26,401 feet.
The center of the Eastern Hemisphere is located in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is completely located within the Eastern Hemisphere.
There are a large number of bays, gulfs, seas, and straits located in the Indian Ocean. Some of these include the Andaman Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Indonesian Seaway, and the Strait of Hormuz.
The variation in salinity in various regions of the Indian Ocean is due to a number of factors such as river inflows, freshwater throughflows, and the saltier water in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Icebergs can be found throughout the entire year in some of the southern regions of the Indian Ocean.
There are strong monsoon winds in the summer which result in one of the world's largest phytoplankton blooms each year in the western region of the Indian Ocean.
The phytoplankton bloom contributes to feeding the marine ecosystem in the Indian Ocean. As a result the Indian Ocean is the second largest provider for tuna fisherman in the world in terms of economic importance.
Tuna and shrimp found in the Indian Ocean are important to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
In the last 6 decades the phytoplankton in the Indian Ocean has declined by approximately 20% due to increasing water temperatures.
Marine species in the Indian Ocean that are considered to be endangered include whales, turtles, seals, and the dugong.
Researchers at Southampton University identified six new species of animals in the Indian Ocean in 2016 including a polychaete worm, a scaleworm, a limpet, a whelk-like snail, a hoff crab, and a giant peltospirid snail. They were found in hydrothermal vents underneath the Indian Ocean.
A tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 resulted in the deaths of more than 226,000 people.
Pirate activity in the late 2000s in the Indian Ocean was a problem for ships in the region but such activity has been derailed due to navy patrols and improved security measures.
There are numerous islands in the Indian Ocean, some belonging to bordering countries and some which are sovereign nations.


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