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 approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
between the
Laccadive Islands
The Laccadive Islands ( ) or Kannur Islands (formerly spelled Cannanore, ) 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 ...
of
Kalpeni
Kalpeni is an inhabited Atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India.
It has a distance of west of the city of Kochi.
Geography
Kalpeni is west from the port of Kochi and lies south of Andrott and to the NNE of Minicoy, with the br ...
and
Suheli Par
Suheli Par is a coral atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is an oval-shaped 17 km long atoll surrounded by a zone of rich marine fauna. Geography
Suheli Par is located at , 52 km to the SW of Kavaratti, 76 km t ...
, and
Maliku Atoll (Minicoy Island). These two subgroups of islands, together with the
Amindivi Subgroup, form the
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
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 Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...
.
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 the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
.
Sea Lane of Strategic Importance
The 200 kilometres of the Nine Degree Channel separating
Kalpeni
Kalpeni is an inhabited Atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India.
It has a distance of west of the city of Kochi.
Geography
Kalpeni is west from the port of Kochi and lies south of Andrott and to the NNE of Minicoy, with the br ...
and
Suheli Par
Suheli Par is a coral atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is an oval-shaped 17 km long atoll surrounded by a zone of rich marine fauna. Geography
Suheli Par is located at , 52 km to the SW of Kavaratti, 76 km t ...
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 the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...
*
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
*
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
*
Exclusive economic zone of India
India has the 18th-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with a total size of . It includes the Lakshadweep island group in the Laccadive Sea off the southwestern coast of India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the An ...
References
External links
Hydrographic Description (Indian Ocean Pilot)
Landforms of Lakshadweep
Channels of the Indian Ocean
Straits of India
{{Lakshadweep-geo-stub