The Arabian Sea is located in the northern Indian Ocean. It is bordered by Pakistan and Iran in the north, by Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates in the west, and by India in the east. The Maldives are also to the east of the Arabian Sea. There are several other islands situated in these waters, the most significant being Socotra, belonging to Yemen, Masirah, part of Oman, Astola Island, that belongs to Pakistan and Andrott and island governed by India.

The total area of the Arabian Sea is 3,862,000 square kilometres and its maximum depth is 4,652 metres. The Arabian Sea connects to the Red Sea via the Gulf of Aden in the south–west, and to the Persian Gulf via the Gulf of Oman in the north–west. The largest river that flows into the Arabian Sea is the Indus River from Pakistan.

The Arabian Sea is crossed by several important trade routes with many large cities and major ports located on the sea’s coast, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, the Port of Karachi and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan and the Port of Salalah in Oman, as well as Kandla Port and Mormugao in Goa, India.