Coral Sea

The Coral Sea or the Coral Sea ( Coral Sea English, French Mer de Corail ) is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

In the north- east it borders on the Salomonensee and on the south by the Tasman Sea; through the Torres Strait, it is in the north- west with the Arafura Sea in connection. In the north of the Coral Sea lies the Gulf of Papua, and in the north west, the Torres Strait and its islands.

The sea is characterized by numerous coral reefs. The largest Riffkomplexe are the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia and the New Caledonian barrier reef surrounding New Caledonia

Islands

Within about 4.791 million km ² of the Coral Sea are that belong to New Caledonia Belep and Chesterfield Islands ( and as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ), the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands and the Isle of Pines ), as well as off the Australian coast (outside the Great Barrier Reef ) the coral Sea Islands, Australian since 1969 outdoor area. Except for a manned weather station on Willis Islet these islands are uninhabited; to them the Lihou Reef, which is a lagoon of approximately 2,500 km ² of the largest atolls of the earth belongs. Between the Great Barrier Reef and Australian coast, in the coastal waters of Queensland, the Cumberland Islands are the important tourist Whitsunday Islands. The belonging to Papua New Guinea Louisiade archipelago forms the border with Salomonensee, but is for the most part north of the defined by the IHO boundary line. In contrast, we find the islands of Vanuatu - the New Hebrides, Banks and Torres Islands - according to IHO definition of the Coral Sea and, together with its east coast with its eastern border.

The border with the Tasman Sea extends loud IHO 30 degrees south latitude along from mainland Australia to Elizabeth Reef. In practice, however, usually the boundary between the coastal waters of Queensland and New South Wales ( about one degree north ) is also considered as the boundary between the two seas so that the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, depending on the definition on the edge of the Coral Sea or in the Tasman Sea.

History

In 1942 the Coral Sea instead of a naval battle between the Japanese and Allied naval forces, the result of which led to the demolition of the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby.