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

The Chagos Islands - officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory - are located in the Indian Ocean and the UK has controlled them since the early 19th Century.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The waterway connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

Oil tankers and cargo ships arriving from the Indian Ocean pass through it to reach the Red Sea and then the Suez Canal, where they enter the Mediterranean, and vice versa.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

The police, ambulance, fire department, cyclone-warning system and, of course, Zoël Manguillier, the guy to call when the groom drops his wedding ring in the Indian Ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

So they worked—across the equator, to the Cape, and into the Indian Ocean they slaved—Nat and the men before the mast.

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