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).

---

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)

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of Indian Ocean

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Indian Ocean

A SpaceX rocket has made an unexpected appearance off Christmas Island after touching down in the Indian Ocean following a test flight from Texas on 24 July.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

The sailors and pearl divers of the Indian Ocean had intimate understandings of shallow reefs—“vernacular knowledge”—that often aided British endeavors to draw maps and document marine life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Scientists have long believed that warm, salty water flowing from the Indian Ocean around the southern tip of Africa and into the Atlantic helps support one of the planet's most important ocean circulation systems.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Pizza popped up as often as pate on plates, while one caterer from La Reunion has won social media adulation for his gifts of cari, a spicy dish popular on the Indian Ocean island.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

“The Atlantic Ocean is brown, sort of, and the Indian Ocean is blue.”

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson