tarctica from May to October

Environment - current issues: endangered marine species include the
dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea,
Persian Gulf, and Red Sea

Environment - international agreements:
party to : none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of
Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the
Lombok Strait

@Indian Ocean:Government

Data code: none; the US Government has not approved a standard for
hydrographic codes - see the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic
Codes appendix

Economy

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, 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.

@Indian Ocean:Communications

Telephone system:
international : submarine cables from India to UAE and Malaysia and
from Sri Lanka to Djibouti and Indonesia

@Indian Ocean:Transportation

Ports and harbors: Calcutta (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban
(South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Madras (India), Melbourne
(Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richard's Bay (South Africa)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
______________________________________________________________________

INDONESIA

@Indonesia:Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and
the Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 5 00 S, 120 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total : 1,919,440 sq km
land: 1,826,440 sq km
water: 93,000 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the