Compare Coral Sea Islands (2004) - Indian Ocean (2001)

Compare Coral Sea Islands (2004) z Indian Ocean (2001)

	Coral Sea Islands (2004)	Indian Ocean (2001)

Area	total: less than 3 sq km land: less than 3 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes numerous small islands and reefs scattered over a sea area of about 780,000 sq km, with the Willis Islets the most important	total: 68.556 million sq km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Strait of Malacca, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative	NA	about 5.5 times the size of the US
Background	Scattered over some 1 million square kilometers of ocean, the Coral Sea Islands were declared a territory of Australia in 1969. They are uninhabited except for a small meteorological staff on the Willis Islets. Automated weather stations, beacons, and a lighthouse occupy many other islands and reefs.	The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south.
Climate	tropical	northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean
Coastline	3,095 km	66,526 km
Country name	conventional long form: Coral Sea Islands Territory conventional short form: Coral Sea Islands	-
Dependency status	territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Department of the Environment, Sport, and Territories	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (territory of Australia)	-
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (territory of Australia)	-
Disputes - international	none	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Economy - overview	no economic activity	The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Cato Island 6 m	lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues	no permanent fresh water resources	endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Executive branch	administered from Canberra by the Department of the Environment, Sport, and Territories	-
Flag description	the flag of Australia is used	-
Geographic coordinates	18 00 S, 152 00 E	20 00 S, 80 00 E
Geography - note	important nesting area for birds and turtles	major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	-
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (mostly grass or scrub cover) (2001)	-
Legal system	the laws of Australia, where applicable, apply	-
Location	Oceania, islands in the Coral Sea, northeast of Australia	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Map references	Oceania	World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of Australia; visited regularly by the Royal Australian Navy; Australia has control over the activities of visitors	-
Natural hazards	occasional tropical cyclones	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches
Natural resources	NEGL	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: there is a staff of three to four at the meteorological station (2004 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	none; offshore anchorage only	Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa)
Terrain	sand and coral reefs and islands (or cays)	surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge

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