Islands of the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering an area in
the region of 73,556,000 km².
The open waters of the Indian Ocean are largely devoid of islands — with most being located around the coastal margins. The only truly oceanic islands here include the Seychelles, Chagos Archipelago, Maldives, Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands and the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues. At high southern latitudes the waters of the Indian Ocean merge with those of both the Atlantic and the Pacific — forming a body of water known as the Southern Ocean — islands within this region are dealt with separately.