Editing Indian Ocean (section)

==Etymology==
The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515, when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ({{lit|Indian Eastern Ocean}}) is attested, named after India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century, as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' ([[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]]) before the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] was surmised.<ref name=HarperIndianOcean>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Indian%20Ocean|title=Indian Ocean|last=Harper|first=Douglas|website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|access-date=18 January 2011|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114020412/https://www.etymonline.com/word/Indian%20Ocean|url-status=live|quote=first attested 1515 in Modern Latin (Oceanus Orientalis Indicus), named for India, which projects into it; earlier it was the Eastern Ocean, as opposed to the Western Ocean (Atlantic) before the Pacific was surmised.}}</ref> In modern times, the name Afro-Asian Ocean has occasionally been used.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Braun|first=Dieter|date=1972|title=The Indian Ocean in Afro-Asian Perspective|journal=The World Today|volume=28|issue=6|pages=249–256|jstor=40394632}}</ref>

The [[Hindi]] name for the Ocean is {{lang|hi|हिंद महासागर}} ({{translit|hi|ISO|Hind Mahāsāgar}}; {{Translation|literal=yes|Ocean of India}}). Conversely, [[Ming treasure voyages|Chinese explorers]] (e.g., [[Zheng He]] during the [[Ming dynasty]]) who traveled to the Indian Ocean during the 15th century called it the Western Oceans.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hui|2010|loc=Abstract}}</ref> In [[List of Graeco-Roman geographers|Ancient Greek geography]], the Indian Ocean region known to the Greeks was called the [[Erythraean Sea]].<ref name="Periplus">{{Cite book|author=Anonymous|translator-last=Schoff|translator-first=Wilfred Harvey|title=Periplus of the Erythraean Sea|year=1912|title-link=s:Periplus of the Erythraean Sea}}</ref>