Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea | |
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The Arabian Sea (
Geography
The Arabian Sea's surface area is about 3,862,000 km2 (1,491,130 sq mi).[4] The maximum width of the sea is approximately 2,400 km (1,490 mi), and its maximum depth is 4,652 metres (15,262 ft). The biggest river flowing into the sea is the Indus River.
The Arabian Sea has two important branches: the Gulf of Aden in the southwest, connecting with the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; and the Gulf of Oman to the northwest, connecting with the Persian Gulf. There are also the gulfs of Khambhat and Kutch on the Indian Coast. The Arabian Sea has been crossed by many important marine trade routes since the 3rd or 2nd millennium BCE. Major seaports include
Limits
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Arabian Sea as follows:[5]
- On the west: the eastern limit of the Gulf of Aden.
- On the north: a line joining Ràs al Hadd, east point of the Arabian Peninsula (22°32'N) and Ràs Jiyùni (61°43'E) on the coast of Pakistan.
- On the south: a line running from the southern extremity of Addu Atoll in the Maldives, to the eastern extremity of Ràs Hafun (the easternmost point of Africa, 10°26'N).
- On the east: the western limit of the Laccadive Sea a line running from Sadashivgad on the west coast of India (14°48′N 74°07′E / 14.800°N 74.117°E) to Cora Divh (13°42′N 72°10′E / 13.700°N 72.167°E) and thence down the west side of the Laccadive and Maldive archipelagos to the most southerly point of Addu Atoll in the Maldives.
Border and basin countries
Border and basin countries:[6][7]
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Arabian Sea above Bombay/Mumbai
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Arabian Sea seen from space
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Arabian Sea in Karachi, Pakistan
Alternative names
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The Arabian Sea historically and geographically has been referred to with different names by
Arab geographers, sailors and nomads used to call this sea by different names, including the Akhdar (Green) Sea, Bahre Fars (Persian Sea), the Ocean Sea, the Hindu sea, the Makran Sea, the sea of Oman; among them Zakariya al-Qazwini, Al-Masudi, Ibn Hawqal and Hafiz-i Abru. They wrote: "The green sea and Indian sea and Persian sea are all one sea and in this sea there are strange creatures." in Iran and Turkey people call it Oman sea.[13] In the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, as well as in some ancient maps, Erythraean Sea refers to the whole area of the northwestern Indian Ocean, including the Arabian Sea.[14]
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Erythraean Sea 1838.
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1658 Jansson Map of the Indian Ocean (Erythraean Sea)
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The western part of the Indian Ocean,1693
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17th century map depicting the locations of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
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A horizontal Malabar Coast miniature, a reprint by Petrus Bertius, 1630
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Persian Sea
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Asia.Sinus Persicusand the Mare Persicum
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Iran and Makran
Trade routes
The Arabian Sea has been an important
These routes usually began in the Far East or down river from Madhya Pradesh, India with transshipment via historic Bharuch (Bharakuccha), traversed past the inhospitable coast of modern-day Iran, then split around Hadhramaut, Yemen into two streams north into the Gulf of Aden and thence into the Levant, or south into Alexandria via Red Sea ports such as Axum. Each major route involved transhipping to pack animal caravan, travel through desert country and risk of bandits and extortionate tolls by local potentates.
This southern coastal route past the rough country in the
Major ports
Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai is the largest port in the Arabian Sea, and the largest container port in India. Major Indian ports in the Arabian Sea are
The
The Gwadar Port of Pakistan is a warm-water, deep-sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, about 460 km west of Karachi and approximately 75 km (47 mi) east of Pakistan's border with Iran. The port is located on the eastern bay of a natural hammerhead-shaped peninsula jutting out into the Arabian Sea from the coastline.
Port of Salalah in Salalah, Oman is also a major port in the area. The International Task Force often uses the port as a base. There is a significant number of warships of all nations coming in and out of the port, which makes it a very safe bubble. The port handled just under 3.5m teu in 2009.[18]
Islands
There are several islands in the Arabian Sea, with the most important ones being
The Lakshadweep Islands (formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands) is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea region of Arabian Sea, 200 to 440 km (120 to 270 mi) off the southwestern coast of India. The archipelago is a
Zalzala Koh was an island which was around for only a few years. After the 2013 earthquake in Pakistan, the mud island was formed. By 2016 the island had completely submerged.[19]
Astola Island, also known as Jezira Haft Talar in Balochi, or 'Island of the Seven Hills', is a small, uninhabited island in the northern tip of the Arabian Sea in Pakistan's territorial waters.
Socotra, also spelled Soqotra, is the largest island, being part of a small archipelago of four islands. It lies some 240 km (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 km (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula.
Masirah and the five Khuriya Muriya Islands are islands off the southeastern coast of Oman.
Major Cities
There are many major cities and towns in the coast of Arabian Sea. Some of the major cities are Mumbai, Muscat, Karachi, Aden, Salalah, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Alappuzha, Kollam, Mangalore, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Mogadishu, Gwadar, Abu Dhabi, Mundra, Dubai, Kannur, Panaji, Karwar, Udupi, Ratnagiri, Murdeshwar, Veraval , Colombo, Takamaka, and Dhiffushi.
Oxygen minimum zone
The Arabian Sea has one of the world's three largest oceanic oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), or “dead zones,” along with the eastern tropical North Pacific and the eastern tropical South Pacific. OMZs have very low levels of oxygen, sometimes undetectable by standard equipment.[20] The Arabian Sea's OMZ has the lowest levels of oxygen in the world, especially in the Gulf of Oman.[21] Causes of the OMZ may include untreated sewage as well as high temperatures on the Indian subcontinent, which increase winds blowing towards India, bringing up nutrients and reducing oxygen in the Arabian Sea's waters. In winter, phytoplankton suited to low-oxygen conditions turn the OMZ bright green.[22]
Environment and wildlife
The wildlife of the Arabian sea is diverse, and entirely unique because of the geographic distribution.
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The western part of the Indian Ocean, by Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, 1693 from his system of global gores the Makran coast
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Mangrove forests are abundant south of Karachi, Pakistan
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Minoo Island, Iran.
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Critically endangered
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Dugong mother and her offspring in shallow waters.
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Makran coast
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Makran sea .Makoran coast in Iran
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Makran coast
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Iran
Arabian Sea warming
Recent studies[23][24][25] by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology confirmed that the Arabian Sea is warming monotonously; it possibly is due to by global warming.
Native names
Regional
Language | Name | Romanized |
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Arabic | بَحرُ ٱلْعَرَبْ | baḥr al-ʿarab |
Divehi | ޢަރަބި ކަނޑު | arabi kanḍu |
Gujarati | અરબી સમુદ્ર | arabī samudra |
Hindi | अरब सागर | arab sāgar |
Kannada | ಅರಬ್ಬೀ ಸಮುದ್ರ | arabbī samudra |
Konkani
|
अरबी दर्या | arabī daryā |
Malayalam | അറബിക്കടൽ | aṟabikkaḍal |
Marathi | अरबी समुद्र | arabī samudra |
Persian | دریای عرب | darya-i-arab |
Sindhi | عربي سمنڊ | arabī samaṇḍ |
Somali | Bada Carbeed | Bada Arbeed |
Tamil | அரபிகடல் | aṟabikkaḍal |
Urdu | بحیرہ عرب | bahīrā arab |
See also
References
- ^ "Arabian Sea". UNBIS Thesaurus. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ Banse, Karl, and Charles R. McClain. "Winter blooms of phytoplankton in the Arabian Sea as observed by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner." Marine Ecology Progress Series (1986): 201-211.
- ^ Pham, J. Peter. "Putting Somali piracy in context." Journal of Contemporary African Studies 28.3 (2010): 325-341.
- ^ a b Arabian Sea, Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. pp. 20–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Iran". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
- ^ "Introduction to Pakistan: Section 5: Coastline". www.wildlifeofpakistan.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
- ^ "Kamat's Potpourri: The Arabian Sea". kamat.com.
- ^ "The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea". washington.edu.
- ^ "Kamat's Potpourri: The Arabian Sea". www.kamat.com.
- ^ "The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea". depts.washington.edu.
- ^ "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- ^ "Ministry of MoFA Iran: Introducing a Book and Atlas". mfa.gov.ir.
- ^ "1794, Orbis Veteribus Notus by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville". 1794.
- ^ "Documents on the Persian Gulf's name the eternal heritage ancient time by Dr.Mohammad Ajam".
- ^ "TRAFFIC HANDLED AT MAJOR PORTS (LAST 7 YEARS)" (PDF). shipping.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "WORLD PORT RANKINGS" (PDF). aapa.files.cms-plus.com. 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
- ^ Salalah’s versatility beats the slump Archived October 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Port of Salalah
- ^ "Gwadar's quake island disappears". 31 December 2016.
- PMID 27077014.
- ISSN 1944-8007.
- ^ Bhanoo, S.N. "A Green Blanket on the Arabian Sea". The New York Times.
- S2CID 7061499.
- S2CID 126114281.
- S2CID 226643638.
Sources
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arabian Sea". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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