Oceans trivia | 40 facts about the Indian (part 3)

Oceans are body waters that all together cover 72% of the planet. This is really exciting, and interesting. But how many things do we know about them?

Today we are about to find out some info about the Indian ocean.

1. The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s oceanic divisions.
2. It covers 19.8% of the water on Earth’s surface.
3. In size the Indian Ocean is comparable with roughly 5.5 times the size of the USA.
4. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east.
5. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use.
6. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, the Laccadive Sea, the Somali Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Andaman Sea.
7. The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515.
8. It comes from the Latin form Oceanus Orientalis Indicus (“Indian Eastern Ocean”).
9. It was earlier known as the Eastern Ocean.
10. This term that was still in use during the mid-18th century , as opposed to the Western Ocean (Atlantic) before the Pacific was surmised.
11. Conversely, Chinese explorers in the Indian Ocean, during the 15th century, called it the Western Oceans.
12. The ocean has also been known as the Hindu Ocean and Indic Ocean in various languages.
13. In Ancient Greek geography the region of the Indian Ocean known to the Greeks was called the Erythraean Sea.
14. A relatively new concept of an “Indian Ocean World” and attempts to rewrite its history has resulted in new proposed names, such as ‘Asian Sea’ and ‘Afrasian Sea’.
15. In contrast to the Atlantic and Pacific, the Indian Ocean is enclosed by major landmasses and an archipelago on three sides and does not stretch from pole to pole and can be likened to an embayed ocean.
16. It is centred on the Indian Peninsula.
17. 40% of the sediment of the Indian Ocean is found in the Indus and Ganges fans
18. Its average depth is 3890 meters.
19. The Indian ocean has 57 islands groups.
20. In the Indian ocean are also located 16 African countries and 18 Asian countries, that are being connected directly through its waters.
21. The lowest part this ocean is about 7,258 m deep.
22. This spot is lying on the Java Trench of the Sunda Shelf while its highest point is at the sea level.
23. The Indian ocean has limited marine animal life.
24. This happens due to higher water temperature of this ocean.
25. The Indian ocean is the warmest ocean of the world.
26. This is the reason why it offers little scope to plankton and other species for growth.
27. 80% of the Indian Ocean is open ocean and includes nine large marine ecosystems:
28. These are the Agulhas Current, Somali Coastal Current, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Thailand, West Central Australian Shelf, Northwest Australian Shelf, and Southwest Australian Shelf.
29. It bears many tectonic plate boundaries including the Rodrigues Triple Point where African, Indo-Australian and Antartic continental plates merge.
30. Waters in the Indian Ocean have one of the lowest oxygen content of the world.
31. This happens due to greater evaporation rate in this ocean than its run off or precipitation influx.
32. Indian ocean also has many oil deposits which make about 40% of total world production.
33. There is  a submerged continent in this ocean named.
34. It is named the kerguelen Plateau’ , and it is believed to be of volcanic origins.
35. Some of the most famous islands located in this ocean are Mauritius, Seychelles, and Maldives (Portugal).
36. The Indian Ocean is actually the youngest of the major oceans.
37. Suez Canal in Egypt, the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia are the two most well known waterways in the Indian Ocean.
38. The man-made Suez Canal connects to the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
39. The Indian Ocean provides home to many endangered sea species such as turtles, seals and dugongs (also called sea cows).
40. The written history of the Indian Ocean, however, has been Eurocentric and largely dependent on the availability of written sources from the colonial era, despite the facts it was used from the Ancient times along with the Mediterranean to connect the European continent with the Asian one.

Read more: Oceans trivia | 40 facts about the Pacific (part 2)