By studying geography, a person gets to know the planet on which he lives, gets an idea of the scale of the world and learns to be more careful with nature, admiring its unique corners. Oceans are one of the most impressive topics possible. Each of these huge ponds is worthy of attention. Consider today the Indian Ocean in more detail.
Features and History
Before exploring which continents the Indian Ocean is washing, it is worth learning details about him. It is slightly inferior in size to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. So, its area is 76 million square kilometers. The widest ocean stretches in the Southern Hemisphere, and in the Northern, it most likely resembles the sea. The ancients perceived it in that quality, and only the era of the great geographical discoveries changed ideas about this territory. The first European to gather information about him was Vasco da Gama, and after him James Cook went here. Today, people know much more than before. The average depth of the ocean is almost four kilometers. Its deepest point is the Javan Trench. Here, the depth of the ocean is 7729 meters. The Pacific Ocean is known for its blue color, and the waters of its Indian counterpart are transparent and famous for their azure hue. This is due to the fact that few fresh rivers flow into it. Therefore, the seas associated with it are distinguished by record salinity - the Red Sea is known by this all over the world. However, the Indian Ocean is full of life. Here, fisheries, the search for pearls, extraction from the bottom of gas and oil, and even precious stones such as emeralds or diamonds, have long been developed here.
Washed continents
So, the basic information is studied. Now you can find out which continents are washed by the Indian Ocean. Despite its rather modest size compared to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, it is located next to four continents. These are Eurasia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. Due to this arrangement, the waters of the ocean change their temperature from +30 degrees in the equator to +1 closer to the pole. The maximum length is 10,000 kilometers. Throughout the ocean from west to east there are various climatic zones, in the Indian Ocean there are all possible options. In the north is the warmest region. There are hot currents that separate the region from the cold masses. The hot site has a maximum temperature not only for a particular ocean, but also for the entire planet as a whole. With every ten kilometers towards the pole, the degree decreases. Salinity also changes, but in reverse order. In the region off the coast of Eurasia, monsoons that change direction of currents strongly influence the waters. Now you can easily list the continents that are washed by the Indian Ocean, and you can even explain what its features are in different parts of the planet.
Coastal states
Having studied which continents are washed by the Indian Ocean, we can move on to more specific information. There are a lot of countries located on the coast of this huge water basin. These are both mainland and island states, the latter should be considered separately. So, which countries is the Indian Ocean washed by? Such states include India, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Madagascar, Somalia, Oman, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Republic of South Africa. Many of them become popular tourist destinations precisely because of their convenient location, and in some of them a large part of the production is connected.
Island states
Having figured out which countries are washed by the Indian Ocean, some of them should be considered in more detail. The island states are not numerous here, but each is characterized by unique natural conditions and is popular with tourists. Perhaps the most famous is Madagascar, once a French colony. No less popular Sri Lanka is a beautiful resort, a place of tea plantations and legendary elephants. There are volcanic islands in the Indian Ocean (Prince Edward, Mascaren, Crozet). The largest islands that are washed by the Indian Ocean, in addition to Madagascar, are included in groups such as the Maldives, Andaman or Cocos.
Seas
An educated person will easily answer not only the question of which continents are washed by the Indian Ocean. It is also necessary to know the seas that belong to its basin. The Indian Ocean lags behind others in their quantity, as well as in size. The largest is the Red Sea located in the north. The Arabian and Andaman Seas are also great. In the eastern part are the Timor, Lakkadivskoe and Arafura seas. Due to its physical and geographical characteristics, two bays can also be attributed to the seas of the Indian Ocean - Bengal and Persian. In the south there are territories that are sometimes referred to as the unofficial basin of the South Sea (Cosmonauts, Davis, Commonwealth, D'Jurville and Riser-Larsen, which differ from those listed above by significantly lower water temperatures associated with their location near Antarctica).
Currents
It is worth paying attention to such a component of the pool. What parts of the world is washed by the Indian Ocean directly affects the temperature of the currents entering it. Warm, paving their routes in the north or west, are called South Passatny, Madagascar and Needle. There are two cold currents in the Indian Ocean. This is the current of the West Winds, which carries its waters in the southernmost part, and the Western Australian, which has a "residence" in the east of the basin. A distinctive feature of most of the listed currents is a pronounced seasonal variation in surface water directions. In the northeast of the ocean, this is directly related to the presence in the region of a large number of regular tropical monsoons.