Allan Budker, age 10, of Pittsfield, MA., for his question:

HOW LARGE IS THE INDIAN OCEAN?

Third largest in the world, the Indian Ocean covers more than 29 million square miles. The Ocean is less than half as large as the Pacific Ocean and somewhat smaller than the Atlantic Ocean.

The Indian Ocean extends from Africa on the west to Australia and Indonesia on the east. To the south lies Antarctica and to the north you'll find Asia.

The ocean is 6,200 miles wide between the southern points of Africa and Australia. It has an average depth of 12,785 feet and is 25,344 feet deep at its deepest known point.

Toward the north, the Indian Ocean narrows. India and the island country of Sri Lanka divide the ocean into the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Since man's earliest times, the Indian Ocean has been one of his most important trade routes. For many years, Arab, Chinese and Indian traders navigated the water.

In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama sailed across the ocean after rounding the southern tip of Africa. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, the Indian Ocean became the most direct shipping route between Europe and the Far East.

The Pacific and Indian oceans are separated by the Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Water passages through these islands include the Strait of Malacca, the Sudan Strait and the Timor Sea.

The Atlantic and Indian oceans meet off the southern tip of Africa. The tropical waters of the Indian Ocean meet the cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean in a region called the Antarctic Convergence, at about 50 degrees south latitude.

The Suez Canal links the Red Sea, an arm of the Indian Ocean, with the Mediterranean Sea.

Major ports of the Indian ocean include Aden, Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo and Rangoon in Asia; Perth in Australia; and Durban and Dar es Salaam in Africa.

The Indian ocean has less commercial fishing activity than either the Atlantic or Pacific.

Most areas of the Indian Ocean have a tropical climate, making the water almost free of icebergs, heavy fog and other navigation hazzards.

The Indian Ocean has three belts of wind. The winds that make up these belts are called monsoons, southeast trade winds and prevailing westerly winds.

The northeast or dry monsoon blows from Asia across India to East Africa from October to April. The southwest or wet monsoon blows from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal across India and Southeast Asia, picking up moisture from the ocean

The southeast trade winds originate in the Southern Hemisphere and blow toward the equator. The rotation of the earth makes these winds blow northwestward.

Prevailing westerly winds blow steadily from west to east. These winds often bring violent tropical storms to Madagascar and other areas of the ocean.

The movement of currents in the Indian ocean is governed by the winds.