Compare Indian Ocean (2004) - Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2003)

Compare Indian Ocean (2004) z Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2003)

	Indian Ocean (2004)	Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2003)

Area	total: 68.556 million sq km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies	total: 5 sq km land: 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island
Area - comparative	about 5.5 times the size of the US	about eight times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Background	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.	These uninhabited islands came under Australian authority in 1931; formal administration began two years later. Ashmore Reef supports a rich and diverse avian and marine habitat; in 1983, it became a National Nature Reserve. Cartier Island, a former bombing range, is now a marine reserve.
Climate	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	tropical
Coastline	66,526 km	74.1 km
Country name	-	conventional long form: Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands conventional short form: Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Dependency status	-	territory of Australia; administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	none (territory of Australia)
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	none (territory of Australia)
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	nationalist group in Indonesia reportedly seeks to populate reefs to assert claims; Australia has moved to close reefs to Indonesian traditional fishing and to create a national park while prospecting for hydrocarbons in the vicinity
Economy - overview	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.	no economic activity
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m highest point: sea level 0 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 3 m
Environment - current issues	endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea	NA
Flag description	-	the flag of Australia is used
Geographic coordinates	20 00 S, 80 00 E	12 14 S, 123 05 E
Geography - note	major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait	Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983
Irrigated land	-	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	-	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (all grass and sand) (1998 est.)
Legal system	-	the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia and the laws of the Northern Territory of Australia, where applicable, apply
Location	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia	Southeastern Asia, islands in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Australia, south of the Indonesian half of Timor island
Map references	Political Map of the World	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	-	contiguous zone: 12 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force
Natural hazards	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches	surrounded by shoals and reefs that can pose maritime hazards
Natural resources	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules	fish
People - note	-	the landing of illegal immigrants from Indonesia's Rote Island has become an ongoing problem
Population	-	no indigenous inhabitants note: Indonesian fishermen are allowed access to the lagoon and fresh water at Ashmore Reef's West Island (July 2003 est.)
Ports and harbors	Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa)	none; offshore anchorage only
Terrain	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	low with sand and coral
Waterways	-	none

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