Indian Ocean

[in-dee-uhn oh-shuhn]

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).

Indian Ocean

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)

Indian Ocean

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Indian Ocean¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

The coelacanth is often called a "living fossil," once believed to have vanished millions of years ago before a live specimen was unexpectedly caught in the Indian Ocean in 1938.

Read more on Science Daily

Cyclones, the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.

Read more on Barron's

Myanmar is seen as China's gateway to the Indian Ocean, and to oil and gas supplies for south-western China.

Read more on BBC

And Indians and Americans agree that China’s growing military, economic and political clout in the Indian Ocean is a threat.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Col Michael Randrianirina has been sworn in as the new president of Madagascar days after a military takeover on the Indian Ocean nation.

Read more on BBC