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

See Examples For:

Indian Ocean

The study was published in Nature Communications under the title "Coupling of Pacific and Indian Ocean variability disrupted by 19th century volcanism."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

Climate conditions across the Indian Ocean often respond to changes occurring in the Pacific Ocean.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

The Gulf of Oman lies on the Indian Ocean side of the narrow Hormuz strait, a vital energy conduit that normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Above-normal sea temperatures are also expected in other parts of the world including the Indian Ocean, tropical Atlantic and around parts of the Australian coast.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

They left the storm behind and sailed north into the Indian Ocean.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham