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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 a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by 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,Srilanka, 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[1]) 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
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] External links
  Waters of South Asia   |
| Inland |
Indus | Ganges | Yamuna | Chenab | Jhelum | Brahmaputra | Godavari | Narmada | Tapti | Ravi | Beas | Sutlej | Dudh Kosi | Padma | Sarasvati | Krishna | Kaveri | Meghna | Mahanadi | Son | Ghaghara | Betwa | Chambal | Koshi | Sapt Koshi | Tamur | Mo Chhu | Sankosh | Drangme Chhu | Ganga basin | Ganges Delta | Indus Delta | Dal Lake | Pookode Lake | Skeleton Lake | Chilika Lake | Lake Powai | Borith Lake | Saiful Muluk | Gosaikunda | Nizam Sagar | Red Hills Lake | Malampuzha | Kerala Backwaters |
| Off the Coast |
Indian Ocean | Arabian Sea | Laccadive Sea | Bay of Bengal | Gulf of Kutch | Gulf of Khambhat | Palk Bay | Gulf of Mannar |
| Main |
Reservoirs and dams in India | Lakes of India | Rivers of India | Lakes of Pakistan | Rivers of Pakistan | Rivers of Bangladesh | Rivers of Bhutan | Lakes of Nepal | Rivers of Nepal |
- ^ "Deccan Herald". April 16, 2006 Deccan Herald.
