Q 01/05

How does the Indian Ocean rank among the world's oceans by size?

A) Third largest

B) Smallest

C) Second largest

D) Largest

Answer · why

A) Third largest

It covers about 20% of the water on Earth's surface and is bounded by Asia, Africa and Australia.

Q 02/05

Which ocean is the warmest in the world?

A) Pacific

B) Indian

C) Atlantic

D) Southern

Answer · why

B) Indian

Its warm pool region heated by about 1.2 °C between 1901 and 2012, and models predict a near-permanent marine heatwave state by 2100.

Q 03/05

Geologically, the Indian Ocean holds what distinction among the oceans?

A) The oldest

B) The deepest

C) The youngest

D) The saltiest

Answer · why

C) The youngest

It formed from the break-up of the Tethys Ocean, which split into the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean only about 20 million years ago.

Q 04/05

Before the Pacific was known, Western writers called the Indian Ocean by which directional name?

A) Southern

B) Northern

C) Central

D) Eastern

Answer · why

D) Eastern

The Latin form Oceanus Orientalis Indicus is attested from 1515; Chinese sailors, coming the other way, called it the Western Oceans.

Q 05/05

Ancient Greek geographers knew the Indian Ocean region by what name?

A) Erythraean Sea

B) Mare Indicum

C) Hyrcanian Sea

D) Sea of Ophir

Answer · why

A) Erythraean Sea

A first-century Alexandrian sailing guide, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, describes its ports and the monsoon winds.