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
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean each of the islands in the Mozambique Channel that are claimed by Madagascar. The Glorioso Islands are also claimed by the Comoros, while Mauritius claims Tromelin Island. France claims an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles around each of the small islands in the Îles Éparses, which together with the EEZ claims for the islands of Réunion and Mayotte totals more than one million square kilometres in the western Indian Ocean. There is considerable overlap of the EEZ with the neighbouring states. Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean ( or "Îles