Indian Ocean trade is vital for the global economy and has been described as the "cradle" for global trade. Traditionally connecting the western world to the eastern world since antiquity, long-distance maritime trade by African, South East Asian and South Asian and Middle Eastern ships has made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Southeast Asia to East and Southeast Africa, and the East Mediterranean in the West, in prehistoric and early historic periods. Cities and states on the Indian Ocean rim focused on both the sea and the land. The ocean was historically called the "Mahodadhi", divided into the two seas Purvapayodhi (sunrise) and Apara (sunset). The Indian Ocean is critical for global trade and 50% of container traffic and 80% of global seaborne oil traverses the region.