66 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
INDIAN OCEAN
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 73,600,000 km2; Arabian Sea, Bass Strait, Bay of
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Bengal, Java Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea,
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and other tributary water bodies
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Comparative area: slightly less than eight times the size of the
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US; third-largest ocean (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but
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larger than the Arctic Ocean)
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Coastline: 66,526 km
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Climate: northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon
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(June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and
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October/November in the north Indian Ocean and January/February in the
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south Indian Ocean
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Terrain: surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad,
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circular system of currents) in the south Indian Ocean; unique reversal
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of surface currents in the north Indian Ocean--low pressure over
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southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest
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monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high
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pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the
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northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean
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floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the
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Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninety
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East Ridge; maximum depth is 7,258 meters in the Java Trench
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Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and
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gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
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Environment: endangered marine species include the dugong, seals,
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turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and
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Red Sea
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Note: major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz,
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Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok
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Strait; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme south near
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Antarctica from May to October
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ECONOMY
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Overview: The Indian Ocean provides a major transportation highway
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for the movement of petroleum products from the Middle East to Europe
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and North and South American countries. Fish from the ocean are of
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growing economic importance to many of the bordering countries as a
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source of both food and exports. Fishing fleets from the USSR, Japan,
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Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean for mostly shrimp and
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tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore
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areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western Australia. An estimated
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40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean.
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Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are
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actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South
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Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
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Industries: based on exploitation of natural resources,
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particularly marine life, minerals, oil and gas production, fishing, sand
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and gravel aggregates, placer deposits
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Ports: Bombay (India), Calcutta (India), Madras (India),
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Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Fremantle (Australia),
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Jakarta (Indonesia), Melbourne (Australia), Richard's Bay (South Africa)
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Telecommunications: no submarine cables
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