The Australasian Mediterranean Sea is a mediterranean sea located in the area between Australasia and Southeast Asia. It connects the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It has a maximum depth of 7,440 metresTomczak, Matthias & J Stuart Godfrey (2003), Regional Oceanography: an Introduction , ch. 13 ("Adjacent seas of the Indian Ocean and the Australasian Mediterranean Sea (the Indonesian throughflow)", pp. 220-8. Daya Publishing House. (pdf) and a surface area of 9,080,000 km2.
Geography
In contrast to the American Mediterranean Sea and the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea, it is not surrounded by continents, only by islands and peninsulas. It includes the following seas:
South China Sea - 3,500,000 km2 Banda Sea - 695,000 km2 Arafura Sea - 650,000 km2 Timor Sea - 610,000 km2 Celebes Sea - 472,000 km2 Java Sea - 320,000 km2 Gulf of Thailand - 320,000 km2 Gulf of Carpentaria - 300,000 km2 Sulu Sea - 260,000 km2 Molucca Sea - 200,000 km2 Natuna Sea Gulf of Tonkin - 126,250 km2 Flores Sea - 121,000 km2 Savu Sea - 105,000 km2 Halmahera Sea - 95,000 km2 Bali Sea - 45,000 km2 Joseph Bonaparte Gulf - 26,780 km2 Van Diemen Gulf - 12,035 km2 Seram Sea - 12,000 km2 Sibuyan Sea Clarence Strait Straits of Johor Karimata Strait Lombok Strait Luzon Strait Makassar Strait Strait of Malacca Ombai Strait Qiongzhou Strait Riau Strait Singapore Strait Sunda Strait Taiwan Strait Torres Strait Gaspar Strait Wetar Strait
Countries and territories with a coast on the Australasian Mediterranean Sea are: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. It includes the straits of Luzon, Malacca, and Singapore, and adjoins the peninsulas of Indochina and Malay.
The following islands are located within it:
Bathurst Island, Groote Eylandt, Hainan Dao, Phú Quốc, Ko Chang, Samui archipelago, Nang Yuan, Ko Phangan, Ko Samui, Ko Tao, Tioman, Melville Island, Maluku Islands, New Guinea, Paracel Islands, Pratas Island, Philippines, Riau Islands, Sangir Archipelago, Spratly Islands, Greater Sunda Islands (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi), Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali, Flores, Komodo Islands, Lombok, Sumba, Sumbawa, Timor), Taiwan, and Talaud Islands.
See also East Indian Archipelago Maritime Southeast Asia
References