- With a share of about 46.6% of the global ocean, the Pacific is considered by experts to be the largest ocean in the world.
- Similar to the Pacific, the Atlantic Ocean stretches from the Earth's north to the south, but is significantly narrower in comparison.
- There is some debate about the actual size of the Southern Ocean, as governments around the world disagree about where the other oceans end and the south begins.
- Located in the North Pole region, the Arctic is the smallest of the five oceans. It makes up just 4.3 percent of the world's ocean.
Experts estimate that 71% of the Earth's surface is completely covered by water and about 96.5% of that water is oceans. no techniquea global ocean, uninterrupted by land, but commonly referred to by its five distinct basins: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic. They are aptly named for the region of the world they are found in.
The boundaries between these oceans have changed throughout history for various geographic and political reasons, and for all we know, they could change again. Meanwhile, the following article compares the five oceans by the size recognized on current maps.
1. The Pacific Ocean
At 168,723,000 square kilometres, the Pacific is the largest ocean on Earth. It makes up about 46.6 percent of the global ocean, which is just under half. Stretching from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, it lies primarily between Asia and the Americas and includes 135,663 kilometers of coastline. Some of the most notable countries it borders are Russia, China, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. It is home to around 25,000 islands, many of which are in Asia, but it also borders the island continent of Australia.
The average depth of the Pacific is 3,970 meters, the deepest of any ocean, but this is also where the Mariana Trench is located. At 11,034 meters, it is the lowest point on Earth. In fact, Mount Everest would be completely submerged if it were placed on the bottom. Given this fact, it should come as no surprise that the Pacific accounts for 50.1% of the world's total ocean volume. Due to its enormous size, the Pacific is home to a colorful collection of marine life, from orcas to manatees, giant squid and tiny sea slugs.
This vast ocean has played host to some incredible moments throughout history, but more recently it's best known for being a major theater of war during World War II, witnessing iconic events like the Battles of Midway and Iwo Jima.
2. The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic measures approximately 85,133,000 square kilometers. Despite being the second largest ocean in the world, the Pacific is about twice that size. Despite this difference, it covers a coastline of 111,866 kilometers. To the west it borders America, including countries like Brazil and Argentina. To the east, it borders Europe and several African countries. Similar to the Pacific, it stretches from the Earth's north to the south, but is significantly narrower in comparison. It can be recognized on a world map by its distinctive S-shape.
It has an average depth of 3,646 meters; However, the Milwaukee Deep - its deepest point - is 8,380 meters. More recently, Victor Vescovo, a former Navy officer, made the first descent into the icy depths of this particular section of the Puerto Rico Trench.
The name of the ocean derives from Greek mythology, more specifically from Atlas, the titan in charge of carrying the weight of the sky on his shoulders. This is perhaps an apt nickname, as the Atlantic has witnessed many horrific events throughout history, such as the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the attack on the RMS.Lusitaniaem 1915.
3. The Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean ranks third with 70,560,000 square kilometers. It makes up about 19.5 percent of the world's ocean and has 66,526 kilometers of coastline. Unlike the previous two oceans, it does not run from north to south, but is surrounded by the north and is contained in a pocket formed by East Africa, parts of Asia and Western Australia. It is home to many islands, including Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world.
Despite its smaller size, theIndian Oceanit has an average depth of about 100 meters deeper than the Atlantic. It contains the fewest trenches of any other ocean, but is home to the second largest trench in the world: the Java Trench. There the Índio reaches its lowest point at 7,450 meters.
It was formerly known as the Eastern Ocean before being called the Indian Ocean in the early 15th century. Since then, some local governments, including Pakistan, have disputed its name for suggesting that India was the most important country in the southern half of the continent. Despite efforts to change its name, it is still the Indian Ocean.
4. The Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean measures approximately 21,960,000 square kilometers. With 6.1% of the global ocean, it is significantly smaller than the previous three oceans. In fact, the Pacific is about seven times that size. However, it should be noted that there is some debate about where the other oceans end and the south begins. The United States recognizes the latter as the body of water that will remain open until April 60heparallel to the south, a line of latitude well below the equator. Regardless, it is aptly named for its position at the end of the globe, where it completely surrounds it.Antarctica.
Although drastically smaller, it has an average depth of 3,270 meters, just 700 meters shallower than the Pacific. Despite the barren landscape, it is home to a diverse collection of wildlife, including whales, seals and penguins. Sadly, many of these animals are currently endangered by pollution and the growing threat of climate change.
Throughout history, only the other four oceans have been recognized. The South was first proposed to the International Hydrographic Organization in 2000. It has not yet been accepted by all members, so its inclusion is not yet official, but many countries, including the United States, recognize its legitimacy.
5. The Arctic Ocean
The Arctic is the smallest of the five oceans. With an area of 15,558,000 square kilometers, it represents only 4.3% of the world's ocean. However, it has 27,421 kilometers more coastline than the south. It is located in the North Pole region and borders six countries: the United States, Canada,Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Russia. It is home to several notable islands, including the Queen Elizabeth Islands, the Russian Arctic Islands, and the aforementioned island nation of Iceland, which straddles the Arctic and Atlantic.
HeArctic Oceanit is even shallower than all the others, its average depth being only 1,205 meters. It is generally recognized as the coldest of the five; However, due to climate change, it is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the world.
Its name comes from the Greek wordArktoswhich means "bear". That inspiration has less to do with native polar bears and more to do with the constellations of Ursa Minor and Ursa Major: Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Several oceanographers prefer to call it the Arctic Sea, but the International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an official ocean.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-oceans-of-the-world-by-size.html
| rang | Ocean | Area (km2) | Volume (km3) | average depth (m) | coast (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Ocean | 168.723.000 (46,6) | 669.880.000 (50,1) | 3.970 | 1.35.663 |
| 2 | Atlantic Ocean | 85.133.000 (23,5) | 310.410.900 (23,3) | 3.646 | 1.11.866 |
| 3 | Indian Ocean | 70.560.000 (19,5) | 264.000.000 (19,8) | 3.741 | 66.526 |
| 4 | southern ocean | 21.960.000 (6,1) | 71.800.000 (5,4) | 3.270 | 17.968 |
| 5 | Arctic Ocean | 15.558.000 (4,3) | 18.750.000 (1,4) | 1.205 | 45.389 |
Nathaniel Whelan Emworld geography
- Heim
- world geography
- The world's oceans by size
FAQs
What are the 7 biggest oceans in the world? ›
The Seven Seas include the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern oceans. The exact origin of the phrase 'Seven Seas' is uncertain, although there are references in ancient literature that date back thousands of years.
Which of the 5 oceans is the largest? ›The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the world ocean basins. Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world's ocean basins.
Which ocean is the warmest? ›The waters of the Pacific Ocean comprise the world's largest heat reservoir, by far, and it is the warmest ocean, overall, of the world's five oceans. (The other oceans are the Arctic, Antarctic and Indian Oceans.)
What are the 5 most famous oceans from smallest to largest? ›The Global Ocean
The five oceans from smallest to largest are: the Arctic, Southern, Indian, Atlantic and Pacific.
There is only one global ocean.
Historically, there are four named oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. However, most countries - including the United States - now recognize the Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean. The Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian are the most commonly known.
...
Five deepest points of the world's oceans.
| Name | Challenger Deep |
|---|---|
| Approx depth in metres | 10 924 |
| Ocean | Pacific |
| Trench | Mariana |
| Location | 11.369°N/142.587°E |
In terms of geography, seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. Seas are found on the margins of the ocean and are partially enclosed by land. Here, you can see that the Bering Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean.
What is the coldest ocean? ›The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately 14,060,000 km2 (5,430,000 sq mi) and is known as the coldest of all the oceans.
What is the biggest sea in USA? ›The largest ocean is the Pacific Ocean, and several states have borders along it: Alaska. California. Oregon.
What is the saltiest ocean? ›Of the five ocean basins, the Atlantic Ocean is the saltiest. On average, there is a distinct decrease of salinity near the equator and at both poles, although for different reasons.
What is the top 3 deepest ocean? ›
| Ocean | Area | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific | Mariana Trench | Challenger Deep |
| Indian | Java Trench | Unnamed Deep |
| Southern | South Sandwich Trench | Unnamed Deep South of 60°S |
| Atlantic | Puerto Rico Trench | Milwaukee Deep |
What is the 2nd deepest part of the ocean? Tonga Trench is 35,702 feet deep and is the second deepest place on Earth in the south-western Pacific Ocean.
What are the 7 seas and 5 ocean? ›In modern times, the seven seas refer to regions of Earth's five oceans—the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans.
Where is coldest place on Earth? ›Yakutsk, the capital city of Russia's Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia, is widely identified as being one of the coldest places in the world.
What is the warmest part of your body? ›Different parts of our body have different temperatures, with the rectum being the warmest (37℃), followed by the ears, urine and the mouth. The armpit (35.9℃) is the coldest part of our body that is usually measured.
How deep is the deepest park of the ocean? ›Only three people have ever done that, and one was a U.S. Navy submariner. In the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Guam and the Philippines, lies the Marianas Trench, also known as the Mariana Trench. At 35,814 feet below sea level, its bottom is called the Challenger Deep — the deepest point known on Earth.
What is the smallest and hottest ocean? ›The Indian Ocean has the warmest surface temperature of all the world¹s oceans, as most of it is found in the tropics. Its minimum surface temperature is around 22°C (72°F), but can be as high as 28°C (82°F) towards the east; temperatures in the south can be considerably lower.
Which ocean has the longest coastline? ›Detailed Solution. The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean in the world and it also has the longest coastline among all the oceans.
What did the Southern Ocean used to be called? ›The Southern Ocean, also known as the South Polar Ocean (and formerly the Antarctic Ocean), is the body of water encircling the continent of Antarctica.
Is ocean's 11 the first one? ›The most commercially successful was the first film, Ocean's Eleven (2001). It established the ensemble cast of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell, and Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan.
Why are there 5 oceans instead of 1? ›
National Geographic decided to designate the Antarctic waters as its own ocean (instead of merely southern parts the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific) to bring awareness to, and promote conservation of the waters. But also because of its unique attributes, which scientists and geographers have long recognized.
Why are the eight oceans blue? ›The ocean is blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum. Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see. The ocean may also take on green, red, or other hues as light bounces off of floating sediments and particles in the water.
How deep has a human gone in the ocean? ›Vescovo's trip to the Challenger Deep, at the southern end of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, back in May, was said to be the deepest manned sea dive ever recorded, at 10,927 meters (35,853 feet).
Does anything live in the Mariana Trench? ›The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall and anything living there has to survive the cold water and extremely high pressure. Some animals, including the deep-sea crustaceans Hirondellea gigas , do live there —and they have recently had a human visitor.
Where is the deepest place on Earth? ›The Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest location on Earth. According to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the United States has jurisdiction over the trench and its resources.
Can there be a lake in an ocean? ›But did you know that in certain places on the seafloor, like in the Gulf of Mexico, there are even underwater lakes and rivers? How is that possible? Well, these lakes and rivers form when seawater seeps up through thick layers of salt, which are present beneath the seafloor.
Why is the Red Sea called the Red Sea? ›The Red Sea is the saltiest sea of all the seas that connect to the ocean without even one river meeting the sea. A popular hypotheses about the origins of the Red Sea's name is that it contains a cyanobacteria called Trichodesmium erythraeum, which turns the normally blue-green water a reddish-brown.
Which ocean is the clearest? ›The Weddell Sea, Antarctic Peninsula
The Weddell Sea has been claimed by scientists to have the clearest waters of any ocean in the world.
Ocean water freezes at a lower temperature than freshwater.
At least 15 percent of the ocean is covered by sea ice some part of the year. Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lower temperatures.
Unawatuna Beach, Sri Lanka
In this South Asian paradise, the warm water stays around 81 degrees in any season!
Where is the ocean floor deepest? ›
The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep.
Where in the US is farthest from the ocean? ›The North American pole of inaccessibility (distant from ocean access) is at 43°22′N 101°58′W, about 11 miles (18 km) southeast of the town of Kyle, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in Bennett County, South Dakota, 1,025 miles (1,650 km) from the nearest coastline.
Why is lake Erie not a sea? ›The Great Lakes are considered lakes due to the fact that they are fresh water lakes. Not saltwater like seas. In other words lakes can be salt or fresh water, but seas are always salt water.
Which sea has no salt? ›| Dead Sea | |
|---|---|
| Lake type | Endorheic Hypersaline |
| Native name | البحر الميت (Arabic) ים המלח (Hebrew) |
| Primary inflows | Jordan River |
| Primary outflows | None |
The ocean around Antarctica has a low salinity of just below 34 ppt, and around the Arctic it is down to 30 ppt in places. Thawing icebergs add freshwater – icebergs that have broken off ice sheets formed over land do not contain salt, and the freezing of seawater into ice floes removes more salt.
Why can't we drink ocean water? ›Drinking seawater can be deadly to humans.
Seawater contains salt. When humans drink seawater, their cells are thus taking in water and salt. While humans can safely ingest small amounts of salt, the salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body.
While thousands of climbers have successfully scaled Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, only two people have descended to the planet's deepest point, the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench.
How deep is 7 miles in the ocean? ›For three weeks, a titanium-encased hydrophone recorded ambient noise from the ocean floor at a depth of more than 36,000 feet, or 7 miles, in the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench near Micronesia.
Have we reached the bottom of the ocean 2022? ›In fact, most of the waters remain unexplored, uncharted and unseen by our eyes. It might be shocking to find out, but only 5% of the ocean has been explored and charted by humans. The rest, especially its depths, are still unknown.
What would happen to a human at the bottom of the ocean? ›The pressure from the water would push in on the person's body, causing any space that's filled with air to collapse. (The air would be compressed.) So, the lungs would collapse. At the same time, the pressure from the water would push water into the mouth, filling the lungs back up again with water instead of air.
What is happening at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? ›
At that depth, the weight of all that water above makes the pressure in the Trench around 1000 times higher than it would be in, say, Miami or New York. Floor vents release bubbles of liquid sulfur and carbon dioxide. Temperatures are just above freezing, and everything is drowning in darkness.
Is there a place on Earth deeper than Mariana Trench? ›Challenger Deep is the deepest point in the world ocean. Located within the already-deep Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the actual deepness of Challenger Deep strains the imagination.
Why is it called 7 seas? ›The origins of the phrase 'Seven Seas' can be traced to ancient times. In various cultures at different times in history, the Seven Seas has referred to bodies of water along trade routes, regional bodies of water, or exotic and far-away bodies of water.
What are the 7 main oceans of the world? ›- the Arctic Ocean.
- the North Atlantic Ocean.
- the South Atlantic Ocean.
- the Indian Ocean.
- the North Pacific Ocean.
- the South Pacific Ocean.
- the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean.
Of course the "Seven Seas" are the seas of the ancient world when they were often written about for sailors: Mediterranean, Black Sea, Aegean Sea, Red Sea, Adriatic Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea (now Indian ocean.) The Five Oceans came later.
What is the name of the 10 ocean? ›| S.No. | Name | Length (square miles) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Ocean | 64,196,000 |
| 2 | Atlantic Ocean | 33,400,000 |
| 3 | Indian Ocean | 28,400,000 |
| 4 | Southern Ocean | 20,327,000 |
The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest ocean and contains around 25,000 islands.
What is the 2 largest ocean? ›Covering approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface, the Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean basin in the world, following only the Pacific.
What is the strongest ocean? ›A new study found the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the world's strongest ocean current, is accelerating because of global warming.
Which ocean has the most life? ›So, based on global fisheries and the overall biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems, the Pacific Ocean wins for most marine life.
What is the biggest thing in the ocean ever? ›
The Antarctic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus ssp. Intermedia) is the biggest animal on the planet, weighing up to 400,000 pounds (approximately 33 elephants) and reaching up to 98 feet in length.