{{Unreferenced|date=September 2007}}

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[[Image:Arabian Sea map.png|thumb|right|Map of the Arabian Sea.]]
[[Image:Kannurfort1.JPG|thumb|top|A view of Arabian Sea from [[St. Angelo's Fort]] in [[Kannur District]] of [[Kerala]], [[south India]]]]
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The '''Arabian Sea''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: بحر العرب; [[Romanization of Arabic|transliterated]]: Bahr al-'Arab) is a region of the [[Indian Ocean]] bounded on the east by [[India]], on the north by [[Pakistan]] and [[Iran]], 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]].

==Description==
It was known as the ''Sindhu Sagar'' to Indians in the [[Vedic period]] of their history, and an important [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] [[trade route]] in the era of the ''coastal sailing vessels'' from possibly as early as the [[3rd millennium BCE]], certainly the late [[2nd millennium BCE]] through the latter days known as the [[Age of Sail]]. By the time of [[Julius Caesar]], several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon [[water transport]] through the Sea around the rough inland [[terrain feature]]s to its north.

These routes usually began in the [[Far East]] or down river from [[Madhya Pradesh]] with transshipment via historic [[Bharuch]] (Bharakuccha), traversed past the inhospitable coast of today's [[Iran]] then split around [[Hadhramaut]] 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 transshipping to pack animal caravan, travel through desert country and risk of bandits and extortionary tolls by local potentiates. These are the reality of the conditions which gave rise to the truth behind the tales of the [[Arabian Nights]] stories, and those of [[Sinbad the Sailor]].

So important was this southern coastal route past the rough country in the southern [[Arabian peninsula]] ([[Yemen]] and [[Oman]] today), that the [[Egypt]]ian [[Pharaoh]]s built several shallow canals to service the trade, one more or less along the route of today's [[Suez canal]], and another from the [[Red Sea]] to the [[Nile River]], both shallow works that were swallowed up by huge [[sand storm]]s in antiquity. Later the [[kingdom of Axum]] arose in [[Ethiopia]] to rule a mercantile empire rooted in the trade with Europe via Alexandria.

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 [[Gulf of Cambay|Cambay]] and [[Gulf of Kutch|Kutch]] on the Indian coast. Its islands are few, the chief being [[Socotra]], off the African, and the [[Laccadives]], off the Indian coast.

The maximum width of the Arabian Sea is approximately {{convert|2400|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}}, and its maximum depth is {{convert|4652|m|ft|0}}, 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 [[Netravathi]], [[Sharavathi]], [[Narmada River|Narmada]], [[Tapti River|Tapti]], [[Mahi River|Mahi]], and the numerous [[List of rivers in Kerala|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]].

==Trade routes==
[[Image:100 0819.jpg|thumb|left|[[Surathkal]] beach on shore of Arabian sea]]
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 water. 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 countries with coastlines on the Arabian Sea are [[India]], [[Yemen]], [[Oman]], [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], [[Sri Lanka]], the [[Maldives]], and [[Somalia]].

Cities on the coast include [[Mumbai]] (Bombay), [[Ratnagiri]], [[Surat]], [[Goa]], [[Mangalore]], and [[Kochi,India|Kochi]] in India, [[Karachi]] and [[Gwadar]] in Pakistan, [[Aden]] and [[Mukalla]] in [[Yemen]], [[Salalah]] in [[Oman]]

==References==
{{1911}}

==External links==
* [http://www.konkanyatra.com '''Travel Destinations on the Indian side of the Arabian Sea''']
*[http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/arabian_sea.cfm Arabian Sea (World Wildlife Fund)]
{{SouthAsiaWaters}}

<references/>

{{coor title dms|15|55|10|N|63|54|22|E|type:waterbody}}

[[Category:Arabia]]
[[Category:Marine ecoregions]]
[[Category:Arabian Sea| ]]
[[Category:Global 200 ecoregions]]

[[ar:بحر العرب]]
[[bn:আরব সাগর]]
[[be:Аравійскае мора]]
[[bs:Arapsko more]]
[[bg:Арабско море]]
[[ca:Mar d'Aràbia]]
[[cv:Арави тинĕсĕ]]
[[cs:Arabské moře]]
[[da:Arabiske Hav]]
[[de:Arabisches Meer]]
[[dv:ޢަރަބި ކަނޑު]]
[[et:Araabia meri]]
[[es:Mar Arábigo]]
[[eo:Araba Maro]]
[[eu:Arabiako itsasoa]]
[[fa:دریای عرب]]
[[fr:Mer d'Oman]]
[[gu:અરબ સાગર]]
[[ko:아라비아 해]]
[[hi:अरब सागर]]
[[hr:Arapsko more]]
[[id:Laut Arab]]
[[is:Arabíuhaf]]
[[it:Mar Arabico]]
[[he:הים הערבי]]
[[kn:ಅರಬ್ಬೀ ಸಮುದ್ರ]]
[[ku:Derya Erebî]]
[[lv:Arābijas jūra]]
[[lt:Arabijos jūra]]
[[hu:Arab-tenger]]
[[ml:അറബിക്കടല്‍]]
[[mr:अरबी समुद्र]]
[[nl:Arabische Zee]]
[[ja:アラビア海]]
[[no:Arabiahavet]]
[[pl:Morze Arabskie]]
[[pt:Mar Arábico]]
[[ru:Аравийское море]]
[[simple:Arabian Sea]]
[[sk:Arabské more]]
[[sl:Arabsko morje]]
[[sr:Арапско море]]
[[sh:Arapsko more]]
[[fi:Arabianmeri]]
[[sv:Arabiska havet]]
[[ta:அரபிக்கடல்]]
[[te:అరేబియా సముద్రము]]
[[th:ทะเลอาหรับ]]
[[tr:Umman Denizi]]
[[uk:Аравійське море]]
[[ur:بحیرہ عرب]]
[[zh:阿拉伯海]]