The Nine Degree Channel is a
channel in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
between the
Laccadive Islands
The Laccadive or Cannanore Islands are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the central subgroup of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Amindivi Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel ...
of
Kalpeni and
Suheli Par, and
Maliku Atoll (Minicoy Island). These two subgroups of islands, together with the
Amindivi
The Aminidivi Islands, are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the northern group of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Laccadive Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north. The total ...
Subgroup, form the
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n
Union Territory (UT) of
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Laccadive Islands in the middle with the Amindivi Islands in the north separated roughly by the 11th parallel north and ...
.
The Channel is approximately 200 km wide with a depth of 2597 metres. The
Investigator Bank is located in the southern region of the channel.
It is so named as it lies on the
9-degree line of Latitude, north of the
equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can al ...
.
Sea Lane of Strategic Importance
The 200 kilometres of the Nine Degree Channel separating
Kalpeni and
Suheli Par from Minicoy sees the passage of nearly all merchant shipping between Europe, the Middle-East and Western Asia with South-East Asia and the Far-East.
See also
; Geostrategic context
*
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated fro ...
*
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...
*
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
*
Exclusive economic zone of India
References
External links
Hydrographic Description (Indian Ocean Pilot)
Landforms of Lakshadweep
Channels of the Indian Ocean
Straits of India
{{Lakshadweep-geo-stub