East Indian Archipelago



The East Indian Archipelago is an area designated by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). It encompasses twelve seas, two gulfs, and one strait in the East Indies (Southeast Asia).

Seas
In draft 4 of the IHO's publication S-23 Limits of Oceans and Seas, 2002, the area is described in a chapter under the heading South China & Eastern Archipelagic Seas.

The waters of the East Indian Archipelago are:


 * 1) Banda Sea - 695000 km2
 * 2) Arafura Sea - 650000 km2
 * 3) Timor Sea - 610000 km2
 * 4) Java Sea - 320000 km2
 * 5) Celebes Sea - 280000 km2
 * 6) Sulu Sea - 260000 km2
 * 7) Molucca Sea - 200000 km2
 * 8) Seram Sea - 12000 km2
 * 9) Flores Sea - 240000 km2
 * 10) Halmahera Sea - 95000 km2
 * 11) Bali Sea - 45000 km2
 * 12) Savu Sea - 35000 km2
 * 13) Gulf of Boni
 * 14) Gulf of Tomini
 * 15) Makassar Strait

Six of the seas, the two gulfs, and the strait are wholly waters of Indonesia. The Sulu Sea, lying between the Philippines and Sabah (a state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo), is not in Indonesian waters. The other five seas are partially Indonesian.

Five countries have exclusive economic zones (EEZ) that extend into one or more of the five seas that are partially Indonesian. Apart from the Sulu Sea, Philippine and  Malaysian EEZs also extend into the Celebes Sea. The East Timor EEZ is wholly within the Savu, Banda, and Timor Seas. Australia's EEZ extends into both the Timor and Arafura Seas and Papua New Guinea's EEZ extends into the Arafura Sea from its far southwest coast.