The Australasian Mediterranean Sea is a mediterranean sea located in the area between Southeast Asia and Australasia.[1] It connects the Indian and Pacific oceans.[2] It has a maximum depth of 7,440 m[3] and a surface area of 9.08 mil. km².

Geography

In contrast to the American Mediterranean Sea and Mediterranean Sea it is not surrounded by continents, only by islands and peninsulas.^{[clarification needed]} It includes the following seas:

1. South China Sea - 3.5 million km²
2. Banda Sea - 695,000 km²
3. Arafura sea - 650,000 km²
4. Timor Sea - 610,000 km²
5. Java Sea - 320,000 km²
6. Gulf of Thailand - 320,000 km²
7. Gulf of Carpentaria - 300,000 km²
8. Celebes Sea - 280,000 km²
9. Sulu Sea - 260,000 km²
10. Flores Sea - 240,000 km²
11. Molucca Sea - 200,000 km²
12. Gulf of Tonkin - 126,250 km²
13. Halmahera Sea - 95,000 km²
14. Bali Sea - 45,000 km²
15. Savu Sea - 35,000 km²
16. Joseph Bonaparte Gulf - 26,780 km²
17. Seram Sea - 12,000 km²
18. Straits of Johor
19. Lombok Strait
20. Luzon Strait
21. Makassar Strait
22. Strait of Malacca
23. Qiongzhou Strait
24. Singapore Strait
25. Taiwan Strait
26. Sunda Strait

States or territories with a coast on the Australasian Mediterranean Sea are: Australia, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. It includes the straits of Malacca, Singapore and Luzon, and adjoins the peninsulas of Indochina and Malaysia. 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 islands, Maluka islands, New Guinea, Paracel Islands, Pratas Island, Philippines, Riau, 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