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The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica. It is named after India. The Indian Ocean is known as ''Ratnakara'', "''the mine of gems''", in ancient Sanskrit literature and as ''Hind Mahasagar'' in Hindi and other Indian languages. ==Geography== The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1953 included the Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim, but in 2000 the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the Indian Ocean, but included the northern marginal seas.〔; 〕 Meridionally, the Indian Ocean is delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°55'E, running south from the southernmost point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf. The ocean covers , including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf but excluding the Southern Ocean, or 19.5% world's oceans; its volume is or 19.8% of oceans volume; it has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The ocean's continental shelves are narrow, averaging in width. An exception is found off Australia's western coast, where the shelf width exceeds . The average depth of the ocean is . Its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at deep; also sometimes considered is Sunda Trench, at a depth of . North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the main basin is covered by pelagic sediments, of which more than half is globigerina ooze. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments. Glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca and the Palk Strait. Seas include the Gulf of Aden, Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Australian Bight, Laccadive Sea, Gulf of Mannar, Mozambique Channel, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and other tributary water bodies. The Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Indian Ocean」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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