Editing Indian Ocean (section)

==History==
The Indian Ocean, [[Indo-Mediterranean|together with the Mediterranean]], has connected people since ancient times, whereas the Atlantic and Pacific have had the roles of barriers or ''[[Terra incognita|mare incognitum]]''. The written history of the Indian Ocean, however, has been [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] and largely dependent on the availability of written sources from the [[Western imperialism in Asia|European colonial era]]. This history is often divided into an ancient period followed by an Islamic period; the subsequent colonial-era periods are often subdivided into [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]], [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], and [[British Empire|British]] periods.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parthasarathi|Riello|2014|loc=Time and the Indian Ocean, pp. 2–3}}</ref> Milo Kearney argues that the [[Post-war|postwar]] time period can also be split into a period of competition for oil during the [[Cold War]] followed by American dominance.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.4324/9780203493274|title=The Indian Ocean in World History|date=2004|last1=Kearney|first1=Milo|isbn=978-1-134-38175-3}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref>

A concept of an "Indian Ocean World" (IOW), similar to that of the "[[Atlantic World]]", exists but emerged much more recently and is not well established. The IOW is, nevertheless, sometimes referred to as the "first global economy" and was based on the monsoon which linked Asia, China, India, and [[Mesopotamia]]. It developed independently from the European global trade in the Mediterranean and Atlantic and remained largely independent from them until European 19th-century colonial dominance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Campbell|2017|loc=The Concept of the Indian Ocean World (IOW), pp. 25–26}}</ref>

The diverse history of the Indian Ocean is a unique mix of cultures, ethnic groups, natural resources, and shipping routes. It grew in importance beginning in the 1960s and 1970s and, after the Cold War, it has undergone periods of political instability, most recently with the emergence of India and China as regional powers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bouchard|Crumplin|2010|loc=Abstract}}</ref>

===First settlements===
[[File:Peopling of eurasia.jpg|thumb|According to the ''Coastal hypothesis'', modern humans spread from Africa along the northern rim of the Indian Ocean.]]
Pleistocene fossils of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and other pre–''H. sapiens'' hominid fossils, similar to ''[[Homo heidelbergensis|H. heidelbergensis]]'' in Europe, have been found in India. According to the [[Toba catastrophe theory]], a supereruption c. 74,000 years ago at [[Lake Toba]], Sumatra, covered India with volcanic ashes and wiped out one or more lineages of such archaic humans in India and Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Patnaik|Chauhan|2009|loc=Abstract}}</ref>

The [[Recent African origin of modern humans|''Out of Africa'']] theory states that ''Homo sapiens'' spread from Africa into mainland Eurasia. The more recent ''[[Southern Dispersal]]'' or ''Coastal hypothesis'' instead advocates that modern humans spread along the coasts of the Arabic Peninsula and southern Asia. This hypothesis is supported by [[Mitochondrial DNA|mtDNA]] research which reveals a rapid dispersal event during the [[Late Pleistocene]] (11,000&nbsp;years ago). This coastal dispersal, however, began in East Africa 75,000 years ago and occurred intermittently from estuary to estuary along the northern perimeter of the Indian Ocean at a rate of {{Convert|0.7|-|4.0|km|abbr=on}} per year. It eventually resulted in modern humans migrating from [[Sundaland|Sunda]] over [[Wallacea]] to [[Australia (continent)|Sahul]] (Southeast Asia to Australia).<ref>{{Harvnb|Bulbeck|2007|p=315}}</ref> Since then, waves of migration have resettled people and, clearly, the Indian Ocean littoral had been inhabited long before the first civilisations emerged. 5000–6000 years ago six distinct cultural centres had evolved around the Indian Ocean: East Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia, the Malay World and Australia; each interlinked to its neighbours.<ref>{{Harvnb|McPherson|1984|loc=History and Patterns, pp. 5–6}}</ref>

Food globalisation began on the Indian Ocean littoral c. 4.000&nbsp;years ago. Five African crops&nbsp;— [[Sorghum bicolor|sorghum]], [[Pennisetum glaucum|pearl millet]], [[Eleusine coracana|finger millet]], [[Vigna unguiculata|cowpea]] and [[Lablab purpureus|hyacinth bean]]&nbsp;— somehow found their way to [[Gujarat]] in India during the [[Late Harappan]] (2000–1700 BCE). Gujarati merchants evolved into the first explorers of the Indian Ocean as they traded African goods such as ivory, tortoise shells, and slaves. [[Panicum miliaceum|Broomcorn millet]] found its way from Central Asia to Africa, together with chicken and [[zebu]] cattle, although the exact timing is disputed. Around 2000&nbsp;BCE [[Piper nigrum|black pepper]] and [[Sesamum indicum|sesame]], both native to Asia, appear in Egypt, albeit in small quantities. Around the same time the [[Rattus rattus|black rat]] and the [[Mus musculus|house mouse]] emigrate from Asia to Egypt. Banana reached Africa around 3000&nbsp;years ago.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boivin|Crowther|Prendergast|Fuller|2014|loc=The Earliest Evidence, pp. 4–7}}</ref>

[[File:A young Onge mother with her baby.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Andamanese peoples|Andaman]] [[Negrito]]s are thought to be the first inhabitants of the [[Andaman Islands]], having emigrated from the mainland tens of thousands of years ago.]]

At least eleven prehistoric tsunamis have struck the Indian Ocean coast of Indonesia between 7400 and 2900 years ago. Analysing sand beds in caves in the Aceh region, scientists concluded that the intervals between these tsunamis have varied from series of minor tsunamis over a century to dormant periods of more than 2000 years preceding megathrusts in the Sunda Trench. Although the risk for future tsunamis is high, a major megathrust such as the one in 2004 is likely to be followed by a long dormant period.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rubin|Horton|Sieh|Pilarczyk|2017|loc=Abstract}}</ref>

A group of scientists have argued that two large-scale impact events have occurred in the Indian Ocean: the [[Burckle Crater]] in the southern Indian Ocean in 2800 BCE and the Kanmare and Tabban craters in the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] in northern Australia in 536 CE. Evidences for these impacts, the team argue, are micro-ejecta and [[Chevron (land form)|Chevron]] [[dune]]s in southern Madagascar and in the Australian gulf. Geological evidences suggest the tsunamis caused by these impacts reached {{Convert|205|m|abbr=on}} above sea level and {{Convert|45|km|abbr=on}} inland. The impact events must have disrupted human settlements and perhaps even contributed to [[Extreme weather events of 535–536|major climate changes]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Gusiakov|Abbott|Bryant|Masse|2009|loc=Abstract}}</ref>

===Antiquity===
The history of the Indian Ocean is marked by maritime trade; cultural and commercial exchange probably date back at least seven thousand years.<ref name="Alpers-pp1-2">{{Harvnb|Alpers|2013|loc=Chapter 1. Imagining the Indian Ocean, pp. 1–2}}</ref> Human culture spread early on the shores of the Indian Ocean and was always linked to the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. Before {{circa|2000&nbsp;BCE}}, however, cultures on its shores were only loosely tied to each other; bronze, for example, was developed in Mesopotamia {{circa|3000&nbsp;BCE}} but remained uncommon in Egypt before 1800&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beaujard|2005|p=417}}</ref>
During this period, independent, short-distance oversea communications along its [[littoral]] margins evolved into an all-embracing network. The début of this network was not the achievement of a centralised or advanced civilisation but of local and regional exchange in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea. Sherds of [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] (2500–500&nbsp;BCE) pottery have been found in the western Gulf at [[Dilmun]], present-day [[Bahrain]]; traces of exchange between this trading centre and [[Mesopotamia]]. The [[Sumer]]ians traded grain, pottery, and [[bitumen]] (used for [[reed boat]]s) for copper, stone, timber, tin, dates, onions, and pearls.<ref name="Alpers-pp19-22">{{Harvnb|Alpers|2013|loc=Chapter 2. The Ancient Indian Ocean, pp. 19–22}}</ref>
Coast-bound vessels transported goods between the [[Indus Valley civilisation]] (2600–1900&nbsp;[[BCE]]) in the Indian subcontinent (modern-day Pakistan and Northwest India) and the Persian Gulf and Egypt.<ref name="Alpers-pp1-2" />
[[File:Austronesian maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean.png|thumb|The [[Indian Ocean trade#Austronesian maritime trade network|Austronesian maritime trade network]] was the first trade routes in the Indian Ocean.]]
The Red Sea, one of the main trade routes in Antiquity, was explored by [[First Dynasty of Egypt|Egyptians]] and [[Phoenicia]]ns during the last two millennia BCE. In the 6th century, BCE Greek explorer [[Scylax of Caryanda]] made a journey to India, working for the Persian king [[Darius the Great|Darius]], and his now-lost account put the Indian Ocean on the maps of Greek geographers. The Greeks began to explore the Indian Ocean following the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]], who ordered a circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula in 323&nbsp;BCE. During the two centuries that followed the reports of the explorers of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic Egypt]] resulted in the best maps of the region until the Portuguese era many centuries later. The main interest in the region for the Ptolemies was not commercial but military; they explored Africa to hunt for [[war elephant]]s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Burstein|1996|pp=799–801}}</ref>

The [[Rub' al Khali]] desert isolates the southern parts of the Arabic Peninsula and the Indian Ocean from the Arabic world. This encouraged the development of maritime trade in the region linking the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to East Africa and India. The [[monsoon]] (from ''mawsim'', the Arabic word for season), however, was used by sailors long before being "discovered" by Hippalus in the 1st century. Indian wood have been found in Sumerian cities, there is evidence of Akkad coastal trade in the region, and contacts between India and the Red Sea dates back to 2300 B.C. The archipelagoes of the central Indian Ocean, the Laccadive and Maldive islands, were probably populated during the 2nd century B.C. from the Indian mainland. They appear in written history in the account of merchant [[Sulaiman al-Tajir]] in the 9th century but the treacherous reefs of the islands were most likely cursed by the sailors of Aden long before the islands were even settled.<ref>{{Harvnb|Forbes|1981|loc=Southern Arabia and the Central Indian Ocean: Pre- Islamic Contacts, pp. 62–66}}</ref>
[[File:Indo-Roman trade.jpg|thumb|[[Indo-Roman trade relations|Greco-Roman trade]] with ancient India according to the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' 1st century CE]]
''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', an [[Alexandria]]n guide to the world beyond the Red Sea&nbsp;— including Africa and India&nbsp;— from the first century CE, not only gives insights into trade in the region but also shows that Roman and Greek sailors had already gained knowledge about the [[monsoon]] winds.<ref name="Alpers-pp1-2" /> The contemporaneous settlement of [[Madagascar]] by [[Austronesian people|Austronesian]] sailors shows that the littoral margins of the Indian Ocean were being both well-populated and regularly traversed at least by this time. Albeit the monsoon must have been common knowledge in the Indian Ocean for centuries.<ref name="Alpers-pp1-2" />

The Indian Ocean's relatively calmer waters opened the areas bordering it to trade earlier than the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. The powerful monsoons also meant ships could easily sail west early in the season, then wait a few months and return eastwards. This allowed ancient Indonesian peoples to cross the Indian Ocean to settle in [[Madagascar]] around 1&nbsp;CE.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fitzpatrick|Callaghan|2009|loc=The colonisation of Madagascar, pp. 47–48}}</ref>

In the 2nd or 1st century BCE, [[Eudoxus of Cyzicus]] was the first Greek to cross the Indian Ocean. The probably fictitious sailor [[Hippalus]] is said to have learnt the direct route from [[Arabia]] to India around this time.<ref>{{Harvnb|El-Abbadi|2000}}</ref> During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD intensive [[Roman commerce|trade relations]] developed between [[Roman Egypt]] and the [[Tamil people|Tamil kingdoms]] of the [[Chera Dynasty|Cheras]], [[Chola Dynasty|Cholas]] and [[Pandyas]] in [[South India|Southern India]]. Like the Indonesian people above, the western sailors used the monsoon to cross the ocean. The unknown author of the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' describes this route, as well as the commodities that were traded along various commercial ports on the coasts of the Horn of Africa and India circa 1&nbsp;CE. Among these trading settlements were [[Mosylon]] and [[Opone]] on the Red Sea littoral.<ref name="Periplus" />

===Age of Discovery===
[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The economically important [[Silk Road]] was blocked from Europe by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in {{circa}} 1453 with the fall of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the [[Age of Discovery]].]]
{{Multiple image | width = 180
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 | image2 = Color etopo1 ice low indian ocean eastward routes.jpg
 | footer = Preferred sailing routes across the Indian Ocean
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Unlike the Pacific Ocean where the civilization of the [[Polynesians]] reached most of the far-flung islands and atolls and populated them, almost all the islands, archipelagos and atolls of the Indian Ocean were uninhabited until colonial times. Although there were numerous ancient civilizations in the coastal states of Asia and parts of Africa, the [[Maldives]] were the only island group in the Central Indian Ocean region where an ancient civilization flourished.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cabrero|2004|p=32}}</ref> [[Dhivehi people|Maldivians]], on their annual trade trip, took their oceangoing trade ships to [[Sri Lanka]] rather than mainland India, which is much closer, because their ships were dependent of the [[Indian Monsoon Current]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Romero-Frias|2016|loc=Abstract; p. 3}}</ref>

Arabic missionaries and merchants began to [[Spread of Islam#East Africa|spread Islam along the western shores of the Indian Ocean]] from the 8th century, if not earlier. A [[Swahili culture|Swahili]] stone mosque dating to the 8th–15th centuries has been found in [[Shanga, Pate Island|Shanga]], Kenya. Trade across the Indian Ocean gradually introduced Arabic script and rice as a [[Staple food|staple]] in Eastern Africa.<ref>{{Harvnb|LaViolette|2008|loc=Conversion to Islam and Islamic Practice, pp. 39–40}}</ref>
Muslim merchants traded an estimated 1000 African slaves annually between 800 and 1700, a number that grew to {{circa|4000}} during the 18th century, and 3700 during the period 1800–1870. Slave trade also occurred in the eastern Indian Ocean before the Dutch settled there around 1600 but the volume of this trade is unknown.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview">{{Harvnb|Allen|2017|loc=Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean: An Overview, pp. 295–299}}</ref>

From 1405 to 1433 admiral [[Zheng He]] said to have led large fleets of the [[Ming dynasty]] on several [[treasure voyages]] through the Indian Ocean, ultimately reaching the coastal countries of East Africa.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dreyer|2007|p=1}}</ref>
[[File:Descobrimentos e explorações portuguesesV2.png|thumb|upright=1.3|For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated the [[Indian Ocean trade]].]]
The Portuguese navigator [[Vasco da Gama]] rounded the [[Cape of Good Hope]] during his first voyage in 1497 and became the first European to sail to India. The [[Swahili people]] he encountered along the African east coast lived in a series of cities and had established trade routes to India and to China. Among them, the Portuguese kidnapped most of their pilots in coastal raids and on board ships. A few of the pilots, however, were gifts by local Swahili rulers, including the sailor from Gujarat, a gift by a [[Malindi]] ruler in Kenya, who helped the Portuguese to reach India. In expeditions after 1500, the Portuguese attacked and colonised cities along the African coast.<ref>{{Harvnb|Felber Seligman|2006|loc=The East African Coast, pp. 90–95}}</ref>
European slave trade in the Indian Ocean began when Portugal established [[Portuguese India|Estado da Índia]] in the early 16th century. From then until the 1830s, {{circa|200}} slaves were exported from Mozambique annually and similar figures has been estimated for slaves brought from Asia to the Philippines during the [[Iberian Union]] (1580–1640).<ref name="Allen-2017-overview" />

The [[Ottoman Empire]] began its expansion into the Indian Ocean in 1517 with the conquest of Egypt under Sultan [[Selim I]]. Although the Ottomans shared the same religion as the trading communities in the Indian Ocean the region was unexplored by them. Maps that included the Indian Ocean had been produced by [[Muslim geographers]] centuries before the Ottoman conquests; Muslim scholars, such as [[Ibn Battuta]] in the 14th century, had visited most parts of the known world; contemporarily with Vasco da Gama, Arab navigator [[Ahmad ibn Mājid]] had compiled a guide to navigation in the Indian Ocean; the Ottomans, nevertheless, began their own parallel era of discovery which rivalled the European expansion.<ref>{{Harvnb|Casale|2003}}</ref>
[[File:View from the Deck of the Upton Castle Transport, of the British Army Landing - Bonhams 18942.jpg|thumb|The British [[invasion of Isle de France]] on 29 November 1810 during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]]]
The establishment of the [[Dutch East India Company]] in the early 17th century lead to a quick increase in the volume of the slave trade in the region; there were perhaps up to {{formatnum:500000}} slaves in various [[Dutch Empire|Dutch colonies]] during the 17th and 18th centuries in the Indian Ocean. For example, some 4000 African slaves were used to build the [[Fort (Colombo)|Colombo fortress]] in [[Dutch Ceylon]]. Bali and neighbouring islands supplied regional networks with {{circa|{{formatnum:100000}}–{{formatnum:150000}}}} slaves 1620–1830. Indian and Chinese slave traders supplied Dutch Indonesia with perhaps {{formatnum:250000}} slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview" />

The [[East India Company]] (EIC) was established during the same period and in 1622 one of its ships carried slaves from the [[Coromandel Coast]] to [[Dutch East Indies]]. The EIC mostly traded in African slaves but also some Asian slaves purchased from Indian, Indonesian and Chinese slave traders. The French established colonies on the islands of [[Réunion]] and [[Mauritius]] in 1721; by 1735 some 7,200 slaves populated the [[Mascarene Islands]], a number which had reached {{formatnum:133000}} in 1807. The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] captured the islands in 1810, however, and because the British had [[Slave Trade Act 1807|prohibited the slave trade]] in 1807 a system of clandestine slave trade developed to bring slaves to French planters on the islands; in all {{formatnum:336000}}–{{formatnum:388000}} slaves were exported to the Mascarene Islands from 1670 until 1848.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview" />

In all, European traders exported {{formatnum:567900}}–{{formatnum:733200}} slaves within the Indian Ocean between 1500 and 1850, and almost that same number were exported from the Indian Ocean to the Americas during the same period. Slave trade in the Indian Ocean was, nevertheless, very limited compared to {{circa|{{formatnum:12000000}}}} slaves exported across the Atlantic.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview" /> The island of [[Zanzibar]] was the center of the [[Indian Ocean slave trade]] in the 19th century. In the mid-19th century, as many as 50,000 slaves passed annually through the port.<ref>[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/10/01/html/ft_20011001.6.html "Swahili Coast: East Africa's Ancient Crossroads"]{{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180119091452/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/10/01/html/ft_20011001.6.html |date=19 January 2018 }}, ''Did You Know?'' sidebar by Christy Ullrich, ''National Geographic''.</ref>

===Late modern era===
[[File:Malé (8685996006).jpg|thumb|[[Malé]]'s population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020.]]
Scientifically, the Indian Ocean remained poorly explored before the [[International Indian Ocean Expedition]] in the early 1960s. However, the [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]] 1872–1876 only reported from south of the polar front. The [[Valdivia Expedition|''Valdivia'' expedition]] 1898–1899 made deep samples in the Indian Ocean. In the 1930s, the John Murray Expedition mainly studied shallow-water habitats. The [[Albatross expedition|Swedish Deep Sea Expedition]] 1947–1948 also sampled the Indian Ocean on its global tour and the Danish [[Galathea expeditions|''Galathea'']] sampled deep-water fauna from Sri Lanka to South Africa on its second expedition 1950–1952. The Soviet research vessel [[RV Vityaz (1939)|''Vityaz'']] also did research in the Indian Ocean.<ref name="Demo-etal-intro" />

The [[Suez Canal]] opened in 1869 when the [[Industrial Revolution]] dramatically changed global shipping – the sailing ship declined in importance as did the importance of European trade in favour of trade in East Asia and Australia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fletcher|1958|loc=Abstract}}</ref>
The construction of the canal introduced many non-indigenous species into the Mediterranean. For example, the goldband goatfish (''[[Upeneus moluccensis]]'') has replaced the red mullet (''[[Mullus barbatus]]''); since the 1980s huge swarms of [[scyphozoa]]n jellyfish (''[[Rhopilema nomadica]]'') have affected tourism and fisheries along the Levantian coast and clogged power and desalination plants. Plans announced in 2014 to [[Suez Canal Area Development Project|build a new, much larger Suez Canal]] parallel to the 19th-century canal will most likely boost the economy in the region but also cause ecological damage in a much wider area.<ref>{{Harvnb|Galil|Boero|Campbell|Carlton|2015|pp=973–974}}</ref>

[[File:Diego garcian.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|A [[Chagossians|Chagossian]] on [[Diego Garcia]] in 1971, before the British [[Expulsion of the Chagossians|expelled]] the islanders. He spoke a [[French-based creole languages|French-based creole language]] and his ancestors were likely brought as slaves in the 19th century.]]
Throughout the colonial era, islands such as [[Mauritius]] were important shipping nodes for the Dutch, French, and British. Mauritius, an inhabited island, became populated by slaves from Africa and [[Indian indenture system|indenture labour]] from India. The end of [[Indian Ocean in World War II|World War II]] marked the end of the colonial era. The British left Mauritius in 1974 and with 70% of the population of Indian descent, Mauritius became a close ally of India. In the 1980s, during the Cold War, the South African regime acted to destabilise several island nations in the Indian Ocean, including the Seychelles, Comoros, and Madagascar. India intervened in Mauritius to prevent a coup d'état, backed up by the United States who feared the Soviet Union could gain access to [[Port Louis]] and threaten the U.S. base on [[Diego Garcia]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Brewster|2014b|loc=Excerpt}}</ref>
[[Iranrud]] was an unrealised plan by Iran and the Soviet Union to build a canal between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Testimonies from the colonial era are stories of African slaves, Indian indentured labourers and white settlers. But, while there was a clear racial line between free men and slaves in the Atlantic World, this delineation is less distinct in the Indian Ocean&nbsp;— there were Indian slaves and settlers as well as black indentured labourers. There were also a string of prison camps across the Indian Ocean, such as [[Cellular Jail]] in the Andamans, in which prisoners, exiles, POWs, forced labourers, merchants and people of different faiths were forcefully united. On the islands of the Indian Ocean, therefore, a trend of [[creolisation]] emerged.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hofmeyr|2012|loc=Crosscutting Diasporas, pp. 587–588}}</ref>

On 26 December 2004, fourteen countries around the Indian Ocean were hit by a wave of [[tsunami]]s caused by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]]. The waves radiated across the ocean at speeds exceeding {{Convert|500|km/h|abbr=on}}, reached up to {{Convert|20|m|abbr=on}} in height, and resulted in an estimated 236,000 deaths.<ref>{{Harvnb|Telford|Cosgrave|2006|loc=Immediate effects of the disaster, pp. 33–35}}</ref>

In the late 2000s, the ocean evolved into a hub of [[Piracy in Somalia|pirate]] activity. By 2013, attacks off the Horn region's coast had steadily declined due to active private security and international navy patrols, especially by the [[Indian Navy]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Arnsdorf|2013}}</ref>

[[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370]], a [[Boeing 777|Boeing 777-2H6ER]] with 239 occupants on board, disappeared on 8 March 2014 and is alleged to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean about {{Convert|2500|km|abbr=on}} from the coast of southwest [[Western Australia]]. Despite an extensive search, the whereabouts of the remains of the aircraft is unknown.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|Winter|Gray|2014}}</ref>

The [[Sentinelese]] people of [[North Sentinel Island]], which lies near [[South Andaman Island]] in the Bay of Bengal, have been called by experts the most [[Uncontacted peoples|isolated people]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140804-sad-truth-of-uncontacted-tribes|title=Anthropology: The sad truth about uncontacted tribes|last=Nuwer|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Nuwer|publisher=BBC|date=4 August 2014|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830173844/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140804-sad-truth-of-uncontacted-tribes|url-status=live}}</ref>

The sovereignty of the [[Chagos Archipelago]] in the Indian Ocean is [[Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute|disputed]] between the United Kingdom and [[Mauritius]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Chagos Islands dispute: UK 'threatened' Mauritius|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45300739|publisher=BBC News|date=27 August 2018|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-date=23 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323145031/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45300739|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2019, the [[International Court of Justice]] in [[The Hague]] issued an advisory opinion [[Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965|stating]] that the UK must transfer the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius.<ref>{{cite news|title=Foreign Office quietly rejects International Court ruling to hand back Chagos Islands|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/foreign-office-quietly-rejects-international-court-ruling-to-hand-back-chagos-islands-450078|work=[[i (British newspaper)|inews.co.uk]]|date=18 June 2020|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-date=30 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130042318/https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/foreign-office-quietly-rejects-international-court-ruling-to-hand-back-chagos-islands-450078|url-status=live}}</ref>