Compare Indian Ocean (2004) - Bassas da India (2001)

Compare Indian Ocean (2004) z Bassas da India (2001)

	Indian Ocean (2004)	Bassas da India (2001)

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: 0.2 sq km land: 0.2 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	about 5.5 times the size of the US	about one-third 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.	This atoll is a volcanic rock surrounded by reefs and is awash at high tide. A French possession since 1897, it was placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Reunion in 1968.
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	35.2 km
Country name	-	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Bassas da India
Dependency status	-	possession of France; administered by a high commissioner of the Republic, resident in Reunion
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	claimed by Madagascar
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 2.4 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 France is used
Geographic coordinates	20 00 S, 80 00 E	21 30 S, 39 50 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	-
Irrigated land	-	0 sq km (1993)
Land boundaries	-	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (all rock)
Legal system	-	the laws of France, where applicable, apply
Location	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia	Southern Africa, islands in the southern Mozambique Channel, about one-half of the way from Madagascar to Mozambique
Map references	Political Map of the World	Africa
Maritime claims	-	exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of France
Natural hazards	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches	maritime hazard since it is usually under water during high tide and surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones
Natural resources	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules	none
Population	-	uninhabited (July 2001 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	volcanic rock
Waterways	-	none

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