Indian Ocean

Earth's oceans

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World Ocean

Indian Ocean
Extent of the Indian Ocean according to The World Factbook
Location	South Asia, Southeast Asia, Western Asia, Northeast Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and Australia
Coordinates	20°S 80°E / 20°S 80°E / -20; 80Coordinates: 20°S 80°E / 20°S 80°E / -20; 80
Type	Ocean

Max. width	1,610 km (1,000 mi)
Surface area	70,560,000 km² (27,240,000 sq mi)
Average depth	3,741 m (12,274 ft)
Max. depth	7,906 m (25,938 ft)

The Indian 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 on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica.^[2] It is named after the Indian subcontinent.^[3] The Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara (Sanskrit: रत्नाकर), "the mine of gems" in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar (Hindi: हिन्द महासागर), in Hindi.

Geography

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

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 2000 the IHO delimited the 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 is delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°55'E, running south from the southernmost point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.

The Indian Ocean covers 70,560,000 km² (27,240,000 sq mi), including the 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 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.

The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the 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 Channel, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and other tributary water bodies. The Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean.

Marginal seas

Marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian 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 Channel
Palk Strait connecting Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
Persian Gulf
Red Sea
Sea of Zanj
Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb connecting Arabian Sea
Strait of Hormuz connecting Persian Gulf

Climate

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 the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are generally milder, but summer storms near Mauritius can be severe. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian 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 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 events are a trigger to this strong warming in the Indian Ocean.^[6]

Oceanography

Among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian 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 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 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 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 and Persian Gulf.^[7] Surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern 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

Bathymetric map of the Indian Ocean

As the youngest of the major oceans,^[8] the Indian Ocean has active spreading ridges that are part of the worldwide system of mid-ocean ridges. In the Indian Ocean these spreading ridges meet at the Rodrigues Triple Point with the Central Indian Ridge, including the Carlsberg Ridge, separating the African Plate from the Indian Plate; the Southwest Indian Ridge separating the African Plate form the Antarctic Plate; and the Southeast Indian Ridge separating the Australian Plate from the Antarctic Plate.The Central Ridge runs north on the in-between across of the Arabian Peninsula and Africa into the Mediterranean Sea.

A series of ridges and seamount chains produced by hotspots pass over the Indian Ocean. The Réunion hotspot (active 70–40 million years ago) connects Réunion and the Mascarene Plateau to the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the Deccan Traps in north-western India; the Kerguelen hotspot (100–35 million years ago) connects the Kerguelen Islands and Kerguelen Plateau to the Ninety East Ridge and the 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] It should be noted that these hotspot tracks have been broken by the still active spreading ridges mentioned above.

Marine life

Among the tropical oceans, the western Indian 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 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 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 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 garbage patch was discovered in 2010 covering at least 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles). Riding the southern Indian Ocean Gyre, this vortex of plastic garbage constantly circulates the ocean from Australia to Africa, down the Mozambique Channel, and back to Australia in a period of six years, except for debris that get indefinitely stuck in the centre of the gyre.

In 2016, UK researchers from 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

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

First settlements

The history of the Indian 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 civilisation (2600–1900 BCE) in India (modern-day Pakistan and Gujarat in India) and the Persian Gulf and Egypt.^[14]

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an Alexandrian guide to the world beyond the Red Sea — including 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 by Indonesian sailors shows that the littoral margins of the Indian 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 for centuries.^[14]

The world's earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia (beginning with Sumer), ancient Egypt, and the Indian subcontinent (beginning with the Indus Valley civilization), which began along the valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile and Indus rivers respectively, all developed around the Indian Ocean. Civilizations soon arose in Persia (beginning with Elam) and later in Southeast Asia (beginning with Funan).

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 and the Indus Valley (c. 2500 BC) was conducted along the Indian Ocean. Phoenicians of the late 3rd millennium BCE may have entered the area, but no settlements resulted.

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 to settle in Madagascar around 1 CE.^[16]

Era of discovery

In the 2nd or 1st century BCE, Eudoxus of Cyzicus was the first Greek to cross the Indian Ocean. The probably fictitious sailor Hippalus is said to have discovered the direct route from Arabia to India around this time.^[17] During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD intensive trade relations developed between Roman Egypt and the Tamil kingdoms of the Cheras, Cholas and 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 and India circa 1 CE. Among these trading settlements were Mosylon and Opone on the Red Sea littoral.

Unlike the 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 and parts of Africa, the Maldives were the only island group in the Central Indian Ocean region where an ancient civilization flourished.^[18] Maldivian ships used the Indian Monsoon Current to travel to the nearby coasts.^[19]

From 1405 to 1433 Admiral 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 rounded the Cape of Good Hope and became the first European to sail to India and later the Far East. The European ships, armed with heavy cannon, quickly dominated trade. Portugal achieved pre-eminence by setting up forts at the important straits and ports. Their hegemony along the coasts of Africa and Asia lasted until the mid 17th century. Later, the Portuguese were challenged by other European powers. The Dutch East India Company (1602–1798) sought control of trade with the East across the Indian Ocean. France and Britain established trade companies for the area. From 1565 Spain established a major trading operation with the Manila Galleons in the 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.

Industrial era

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 revived European interest in the East, but no nation was successful in establishing trade dominance. Since 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 by negotiating for naval base sites. Developing countries bordering the ocean, however, seek to have it made a "zone of peace" so that they may use its shipping lanes freely. The United Kingdom and United States maintain a military base on Diego Garcia atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Contemporary era

On 26 December 2004 the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean were hit by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The waves resulted in more than 226,000 deaths and over 1 million people were left homeless.

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 MH370, 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 about 2,000km from the coast of southwest Western Australia. Despite an extensive search, the whereabouts of the remains of the aircraft are unknown.

Trade

A dhow off the coast of Kenya

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. 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

The Port of Singapore is the busiest port in the Indian Ocean, located in the Strait of Malacca where it meets the Pacific. Mumbai, Trivandrum, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Mormugao Port, Mundra, Panambur, Hazira, Port Blair, Alang, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Ennore, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam are the other major ports in India. South Asian ports include Chittagong in Bangladesh, Colombo, Hambantota and Galle in Sri Lanka, and ports of Karachi, Sindh province and Gwadar, Balochistan province in Pakistan. Aden is a major port in Yemen and controls ships entering the Red Sea. Major African ports on the shores of the Indian Ocean include: Mombasa (Kenya), Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar (Tanzania), Durban, East London, Richard's Bay (South Africa), Beira (Mozambique), and Port Louis (Mauritius). Zanzibar is especially famous for its spice export. Other major ports in the Indian Ocean include Muscat (Oman), Yangon (Burma), Jakarta, Medan (Indonesia), Fremantle (port servicing Perth, Australia) and Dubai (UAE).

Chinese companies have made investments in several Indian Ocean ports, including Gwadar, Hambantota, Colombo and Sonadia. This has sparked a debate about the strategic implications of these investments.^[22]

Bordering countries and territories

Small islands dot the continental rims. Island nations within the ocean are Madagascar (the world's fourth largest island), Bahrain, Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. The archipelago of Indonesia and the island nation of East Timor border the ocean on the east.

Heading roughly clockwise, the states and territories (in italics) with a coastline on the Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf) are:

Africa

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

Asia

Australasia

Southern Indian Ocean

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

References

Notes

↑ 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 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
1 2 Roxy, Mathew Koll; Ritika, Kapoor; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sébastien (2014-09-11). "The Curious Case of Indian Ocean Warming". Journal of Climate. 27 (22): 8501–8509. ISSN 0894-8755. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00471.1.
↑ 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
1 2 3 CIA World Factbook 2015
1 2 Roxy 2016
↑ "New marine life found in deep sea vents". BBC News. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
1 2 3 4 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
↑ Brewster 2014

Sources

Alpers, E. A. (2013). The Indian Ocean in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533787-7. Lay summary.
Arnsdorf, Isaac (22 July 2013). "West 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. doi:10.1029/2000jc000316. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
"Limits of Oceans and Seas" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization, Special Publication N°23. 1953. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
"The Indian Ocean and its sub-divisions". International Hydrographic Organization, 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 hotspot tracks" (PDF). Geology. 21 (3): 275–278. 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 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). 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 fisheries and utilization". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.

External links

Look up indian ocean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Indian Ocean (category)

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

Countries and territories bordering the Indian Ocean
Africa	Comoros Djibouti Egypt Eritrea France Mayotte Réunion Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Mozambique Rodrigues (Mauritius) Seychelles Somalia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Zanzibar, Tanzania
Asia	Bahrain Bangladesh British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago - United Kingdom Christmas Island (Australia) Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Oman Pakistan Qatar Saudi Arabia Sri Lanka Thailand Timor-Leste United Arab Emirates Yemen
Other	Antarctica Australian Antarctic Territory French Southern and Antarctic Lands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Australia

Regions of the world

Regions of Africa
North	Mediterranean Gibraltar Arc Greater Middle East MENA Middle East Maghreb Barbary Coast Barbara Ancient Libya Atlas Mountains (Middle Atlas) Sahara Western Sahara Sahel Eastern Mediterranean Egypt Upper Egypt Middle Egypt Lower Egypt Cataracts of the Nile Bashmur Nubia Lower Nubia Nile Valley Nile Delta Darfur Gulf of Aqaba Sub-Saharan
East	Aethiopia Swahili coast East African Rift Great Rift Valley Afar Triangle Danakil Desert Danakil Alps Albertine Rift Virunga Mountains Gregory Rift Valley Southern Rift Valley Rift Valley lakes African Great Lakes Mittelafrika Horn of Africa Ethiopian Highlands Gulf of Aden Gulf of Tadjoura Sudan (region) Sudanian Savanna East African montane forests Sub-Saharan
Central	Negroland Guinea region Gulf of Guinea Cape Lopez Mayombe Igboland Mbaise Maputaland Pool Malebo Congo Basin Chad Basin Congolese rainforests Ouaddaï highlands Ennedi Plateau Sub-Saharan
West	Pepper Coast Gold Coast Slave Coast Ivory Coast Cape Palmas Cape Mesurado Negroland Guinea region Gulf of Guinea Sudanian Savanna Niger Basin Guinean Forests of West Africa Sudan (region) Niger Delta Inner Niger Delta Sub-Saharan
South	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 Sub-Saharan
Anglophone Africa Francophone Africa Lusophone Africa Arabophone Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Tropical Africa Islands

Regions of North America
Canada	Eastern Canada Western Canada Canadian Prairies Northern Canada Atlantic Canada French Canada English Canada Acadia Acadian Peninsula Quebec City–Windsor Corridor Peace River Country Cypress Hills Palliser's Triangle Canadian Shield Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga Newfoundland (island) Vancouver island Gulf Islands Strait of Georgia Canadian 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
United States	Pacific Northwest Inland Northwest Northeast New England Commonwealth West Midwest Upper Midwest Mid-Atlantic Mountain States Intermountain West Basin and Range Province Oregon Trail Mormon Corridor Calumet Region Southwest Old Southwest Llano Estacado Frontier Strip 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 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 Area San Francisco Bay North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) Silicon valley Interior Alaska-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
Mexico	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
Central	Western Caribbean Zone Isthmus of Panama Gulf of Panama Pearl Islands Azuero Peninsula Mosquito Coast
Caribbean	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

Regions of South America
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
East	Amazon basin Atlantic Forest Caatinga Cerrado
Latin Hispanic American Cordillera Ring of Fire LAC

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 Tract Siachen Glacier
North	Inner Asia Northeast Far East Russian Far East Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga Extreme North Siberia Baikalia (Lake Baikal) Transbaikal Khatanga Gulf Baraba Steppe Kamchatka Peninsula Amur Basin Yenisei Gulf Yenisei Basin Beringia Sikhote-Alin
East	Japanese archipelago Northeastern 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 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 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 Rift Valley Levantine Sea Golan Heights Hula Valley Gaza Strip West Bank 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 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 Basin Ganges Delta Pashtunistan Punjab Balochistan Kashmir Kashmir Valley Pir Panjal Range Thar Desert Indus Valley Indus River Delta Indus Valley Desert Indo-Gangetic Plain Eastern coastal plains Western Coastal Plains Meghalaya subtropical forests Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows Doab Bagar region Great Rann of Kutch Little Rann of Kutch Deccan Plateau Coromandel Coast Konkan False Divi Point 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 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

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 Sambia Peninsula Amber Coast Curonian Spit Izyum Trail Lithuania Minor Nemunas Delta Baltic Baltic Sea Vyborg Bay 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 Donbass Sloboda Ukraine Alpide belt
Germanic Romance Celtic Slavic countries Uralic European Plain Eurasian Steppe Pontic–Caspian steppe Wild Fields Pannonian Basin Great Hungarian Plain Little Hungarian Plain Eastern Slovak Lowland Volhynia Karelia East Karelia Karelian Isthmus

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

Polar regions
Antarctic	Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica West Antarctica Eklund Islands Ecozone Extreme points Islands
Arctic	Arctic Alaska British Arctic Territories Canadian Arctic Archipelago Finnmark Greenland Northern Canada Northwest Territories Nunavik Nunavut Russian Arctic Sakha Sápmi Yukon North American Arctic

Earth's oceans and seas
Arctic Ocean	Amundsen Gulf Barents Sea Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea 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 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 Channel Persian Gulf Red Sea 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
Endorheic basins	Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Salton Sea
Book Category

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 Basin 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
Categories	Lakes of Bangladesh / India / Nepal / Pakistan Reservoirs and dams in India Rivers of Bangladesh / Bhutan / India / Nepal / Pakistan

Ocean currents and gyres

Currents

Arctic Ocean	East Greenland North Icelandic Norwegian Transpolar Drift Stream
Atlantic Ocean	Angola Antilles Azores Baffin Island Benguela Brazil Canary Cape Horn Caribbean East Greenland East Iceland Falkland Florida Guinea Gulf Stream Irminger Labrador Lomonosov Loop North Atlantic North Brazil North Equatorial Norwegian Portugal Slope Jet South Atlantic South Equatorial West Greenland West Spitsbergen
Indian Ocean	Agulhas Agulhas Return East Madagascar Equatorial Counter Indian Monsoon Indonesian Throughflow Leeuwin Madagascar Mozambique North Madagascar Somali South Australian South Equatorial West Australian
Pacific Ocean	Alaska Aleutian California Cromwell Davidson East Australian East Korea Warm Equatorial Counter Humboldt Indonesian Throughflow Kamchatka Kuroshio Mindanao North Equatorial North Korea Cold North Pacific Oyashio South Equatorial Tasman Front
Southern Ocean	Antarctic Circumpolar Tasman Outflow

Gyres

Major gyres	Indian Ocean Gyre North Atlantic Gyre South Atlantic Gyre North Pacific Gyre South Pacific Gyre
Other gyres	Beaufort Gyre Ross Gyre Weddell Gyre

Geography of Sri Lanka
Climate	Climate Climatic regions Dry Zone Wet Zone Natural disasters
Geology	Indian Plate Gems Central Highlands Hanthana Mountain Range Knuckles Mountain Range
Extreme points	Highest North South East West
Landforms	Beaches Islands Lagoons Lakes Mountains Rivers Valleys Waterfalls
Bordering entities	Bay of Bengal Gulf of Mannar India Indian Ocean Palk Strait
Subdivisions	Provinces Districts DS Divisions GN Divisions
Settlements	Cities Towns
Environment	Environmental issues Deforestation Biogeographic classification Biosphere Reserves Ecoregions Forests National Parks Protected Areas Sanctuaries Wildlife Fauna Flora

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 170430317 GND: 4026737-4 BNF: cb15297514t (data) NDL: 00564107

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