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

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

	Indian Ocean (2004)	Coral Sea Islands (2004)

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: 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
Area - comparative	about 5.5 times the size of the US	NA
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.	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.
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	3,095 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	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	none
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: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Cato Island 6 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	no permanent fresh water resources
Executive branch	-	administered from Canberra by the Department of the Environment, Sport, and Territories
Flag description	-	the flag of Australia is used
Geographic coordinates	20 00 S, 80 00 E	18 00 S, 152 00 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	important nesting area for birds and turtles
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	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia	Oceania, islands in the Coral Sea, northeast of Australia
Map references	Political Map of the World	Oceania
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 icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches	occasional tropical cyclones
Natural resources	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules	NEGL
Population	-	no indigenous inhabitants note: there is a staff of three to four at the meteorological station (2004 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	sand and coral reefs and islands (or cays)

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