Indian Ocean and Dubai (UAE). Chinese companies have made investments in several Indian Ocean ports, including Gwadar, Hambantota, Colombo and Sonadia. This has sparked a debate about the strategic implications of these investments. Small islands dot the continental rims. Island nations within the ocean are Madagascar (the world's fourth largest island), Bahrain, Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. The archipelago of Indonesia and the island nation of East Timor border the ocean on the east. Heading roughly clockwise, the states and territories (in italics) with a coastline on the Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf) are: Africa Asia
Effect of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on the Maldives Effect of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on the Maldives In the Maldives, 82 people were killed and 24 reported missing and presumed dead after it was hit by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on 26 December 2004. Two-thirds of the capital city Malé was flooded during the first hours of the day. Outlying low-level atolls were badly affected, and some low-lying islands, including some of the major resorts, were submerged at the peak of the tsunami. The government declared a state of national disaster and a special task force was set up to provide aid