Indian Ocean

Pagodalike temples and palaces spread out over the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. In the distance is the hill of Swayambhu, a Buddhist shrine which also includes Hindu elements, reflecting the religious tolerance that is traditional in this mountain kingdom.

The king mackerel, often referred to as the kingfish, is found mainly in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. It usually reaches up to 2 m/6.6 ft in length and 45 kg/100 lb in weight. The king mackerel can be caught using live bait such as other fish, usually elf or mullet, or by an artificial lure.

The Seychelles archipelago, in the Indian Ocean, comprises around 115 islands and islets, divided into two groups: the main group of 42 densely-clustered, granite islands, and the remaining 73 uninhabited coralline islands, spread out over a wide area to the southwest of the granitic islands. Praslin is the second largest island, after Mahé, and the only one where all six species of the native Seychelles palm can be found.

Boats off the coast of the island of Mauritius. Mauritius has 330 km/205 mi of coastline and is almost entirely surrounded by one of the largest unbroken coral reefs in the world.

Ocean between Africa and Australia, with India to the north, and the southern boundary being an arbitrary line from Cape Agulhas to south Tasmania; area 73,500,000 sq km/28,370,000 sq mi; average depth 3,872 m/12,708 ft. The greatest depth is the Java Trench 7,725 m/25,353 ft. It includes two great bays on either side of the Indian peninsula, the Bay of Bengal to the east, and the Arabian Sea with the gulfs of Aden and Oman to the west.

Islands The many islands include those of coral formation such as the Maldives, the Chagos Archipelago, and the Cocos; others are volcanic, such as Crozet and St Paul's islands. The chief islands in the west are Madagascar, Mauritius, Bourbon, the Seychelles, and Socotra, whilst the main ones in the east are the Laccadives, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The main rivers flowing into the ocean are the Zambezi, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Godavari, and Krishna.

There are two important straits, the Mozambique Channel in the west, separating Africa from Madagascar, and Palk Strait in the east, separating India from Sri Lanka.

Currents The Mozambique and Agulhas currents are warm and move southwards; in the east, the colder Western Australian current crosses the Indian Ocean moving northwards. North of the Equator the currents vary with the monsoon. From November to March, there are northeast winds and the current flows from India towards Africa. From May to September, southwest winds reverse the current to flow from Africa towards India. This is the only example of an annual reversal of direction by a large oceanic current.