Indian Ocean

American  

[in-dee-uhn oh-shuhn] / ˈɪn di ən ˈoʊ ʃən /

noun

1. an ocean south of Asia, east of Africa, and west of Australia, with its deepest section in the Java Trench. 27,243,268 square miles (70,560,000 square kilometers).

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Indian Ocean British  

noun

1. an ocean bordered by Africa in the west, Asia in the north, and Australia in the east and merging with the Antarctic Ocean in the south. Average depth: 3900 m (13 000 ft). Greatest depth (off the Sunda Islands): 7450 m (24 442 ft). In December 2004 a major undersea earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami which affected large areas of the ocean as far away as east Africa, and killed an estimated 226 435 people. Area: about 73 556 000 sq km (28 400 000 sq miles)

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Indian Ocean Cultural  

1. Third-largest ocean (after the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean), extending from southern Asia to Antarctica and from eastern Africa to southeastern Australia.

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Etymology

Origin of Indian Ocean

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

Intense fear surrounding shark attacks along South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast harks back decades.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

Before the Seychelles population was wiped out, the species occupied an even larger range that stretched more than 12,000 kilometers from Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2026

The vehicle completed the test by splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

"El Nino is one piece of the puzzle that affects the weather at a certain location, but there are other factors like local ocean temperatures and winds across the Indian Ocean," she added.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Astonishingly, it also swept westward across the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa, resulting in the colonization of the island of Madagascar.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond