Indian Ocean

The warmest ocean

The Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean — its water is sometimes as warm as a bath! It has the Maldives, Madagascar and colourful coral reefs. Long ago, traders carried spices — pepper, cinnamon, ginger — across this ocean.

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest (70 million km²), bordered by Africa, Asia and Australia. It is the warmest ocean: surface temperatures reach 28 °C, so many areas have little plankton. Monsoon winds blow one way for half the year and the opposite way for the other half — ancient sailors used this to travel between India and Arabia. The 2004 Sumatra earthquake caused the deadliest tsunami in history. Madagascar split off 88 million years ago, and 90% of its species are endemic (lemurs!).

Fun facts

• The Indian Ocean is the only ocean named after a country.
• The Maldives rise only 1–2 metres above sea level — the lowest country in the world.
• A 'living fossil', the coelacanth fish, was found in this ocean; scientists thought it went extinct 65 million years ago.
• The Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean is a sunken 'mini-continent'.