Arabian Sea

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Map of the Arabian Sea.

A view of Arabian Sea from St. Angelo's Fort in Kannur District of Kerala, south India

The Arabian Sea (Arabic: بحر العرب; transliterated: Bahr al-'Arab, Latin: Mare Erythraeum) is the part of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan and part of the southern Persian littoral, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra and Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in India. It was known as the Sindhu Sagar to Indians in the Vedic period of their history.

It 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. Besides these larger ramifications, there are the gulfs of Cambay and Kutch on the Indian coast. Its islands are few, the chief being Socotra, off the African, and the Laccadives, off the Indian coast.

Ocean trade routes have crossed the Arabian Sea since ancient times, linking the Near East with East Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and China. Historically, sailors in a type of ship called a dhow used the seasonal Monsoon winds to cross the sea. The sea forms part of the chief shipping route between Europe and India via the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.

The maximum width of the Arabian Sea is approximately 2,400 km, and its maximum depth is 4,652 metres, in the Arabian Basin approximately at the same latitude as the southernmost tip of India. The Indus River, also known as the Sindhu river, is the largest river flowing directly into this sea; others include the Narmada, Tapti, Mahi, and the numerous rivers of Kerala in India. The Arabian Sea coast of central India is known as the Konkan Coast, and that of southern India is known as the Malabar Coast.

The countries with coastlines on the Arabian Sea are India, Iran, Oman, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and the Maldives.

Cities on the coast include Mumbai (Bombay), Surat, Mangalore, and Kochi (often described as the Queen of the Arabian Sea["Decand Herald"]. April 16, 2006Decand Herald. ) in India, Karachi and Gwadar in Pakistan, and Aden in Yemen.

Famous beaches on the coast include

• beaches of Karachi, Main Khye
• the beaches of Goa
• Juhu Beach, Mumbai
• Kovalam beach in Kerala

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

External links

• [Arabian Sea (World Wildlife Fund)]

     
     Waters of South Asia