The Indian Ocean Rim

The Indian Ocean Rim is the transregional grouping of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, spanning the eastern coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia, historically linked by monsoon-driven maritime trade routes that connected these regions for over a thousand years before European colonization. The grouping underlies modern cooperative bodies such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association and reflects a shared history of oceanic trade in spices, textiles and other goods rather than any single language, religion or political tradition.