Page 66 - MDSL Final
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MARITIME DOCTRINE OF SRI LANKA




                                    CHAPTER 5


           NEW DYNAMICS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION


        Introduction

        The  Indian  Ocean  is  a  sea  of  immense  distances  and  incredible  size
        covering 20% of earth. The lateral separation across the ocean is more
        than 5000nm between South Africa and Australia and it covers seventeen
        million square Nautical Miles. Above everything, it is the sheer immensity
        of the Indian Ocean which has enabled it to defy domination by any one
        power in the past and new struggle in the present. 34

        Geographically, the Indian Ocean has two different features; the oceanic
        area and the surrounding land area. Its Eastern border covers Singapore,
        the Indonesian Islands and Australia up to the longitude of 147 East
                                                                        0
        including  Tasmania.  To  the  North,  it  borders  to  the  Asian  continent
        covering from Suez to Malay Peninsula. Western border is the African
        continent up to longitudes 20 East. However in the South it runs up to
                                     0
        latitude 60  South as determined by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. 35
                   0
        Indian Ocean Region (IOR) accounts for more than one third of the global
        population. It has a population of nearly 2.6 billion which represents
                   36
        39 percent of the global  population and consists of vast and diverse
        political, cultural and economic ethnicities. According to the prediction,
                                                 37
        by 2030, population will grow by more than 27 percent, adding another
        689 million people.  This will create many difficulties to the regional
                            38
        countries in terms of providing basic needs and achieving sustainable
        development.

        Maritime Routes

        Ranking the third-largest water body in the world, Indian Ocean is home
        to one of the most important sea lanes in the world. These sea lanes are
        crucial in sustaining many global as well as regional economic giants.


        48   To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea
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