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Facts about the oceans and seas

When our friend and solo ocean racer, Tim Kent, began thinking about a second Around Alone and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston renamed it the Five Oceans Race, Tim inspired us to do a little research about just how many oceans and seas there really are. If you think about it, all of them except one are connected and so technically might be considered one ocean. (And I don't know if we'd consider Hudson Bay to be a sea, but who are we to question the powers that be?)

Wow, that Pacific really is amazing, no? More than twice the size of the Atlantic, and significantly deeper than Everest, earth's highest mountain (29,035 feet), is high .

Name

Area

Average
depth

Greatest known
depth

Place of
greatest known depth

sq. mi.

sq. km

ft.

m

ft.

m

Pacific Ocean

60,060,700

155,557,000

13,215

4,028

36,198

11,033

Mariana Trench

Atlantic Ocean

29,637,900

76,762,000

12,880

3,926

30,246

9,219

Puerto Rico Trench

Indian Ocean

26,469,500

68,556,000

13,002

3,963

24,460

7,455

Sunda Trench

Southern Ocean (1)

7,848,300

20,327,000

13,100–16,400

4,000–5,000

23,736

7,235

South Sandwich Trench

Arctic Ocean

5,427,000

14,056,000

3,953

1,205

18,456

5,625

77°45'N; 175°W

Mediterranean Sea (2)

1,144,800

2,965,800

4,688

1,429

15,197

4,632

Off Cape Matapan , Greece

Caribbean Sea

1,049,500

2,718,200

8,685

2,647

22,788

6,946

Off Cayman Islands

South China Sea

895,400

2,319,000

5,419

1,652

16,456

5,016

West of Luzon

Bering Sea

884,900

2,291,900

5,075

1,547

15,659

4,773

Off Buldir Island

Gulf of Mexico

615,000

1,592,800

4,874

1,486

12,425

3,787

Sigsbee Deep

Okhotsk Sea

613,800

1,589,700

2,749

838

12,001

3,658

146°10'E; 46°50'N

East China Sea

482,300

1,249,200

617

188

9,126

2,782

25°16'N; 125°E

Hudson Bay

475,800

1,232,300

420

128

600

183

Near entrance

Japan Sea

389,100

1,007,800

4,429

1,350

12,276

3,742

Central Basin

Andaman Sea

308,000

797,700

2,854

870

12,392

3,777

Off Car Nicobar Island

North Sea

222,100

575,200

308

94

2,165

660

Skagerrak

Red Sea

169,100

438,000

1,611

491

7,254

2,211

Off Port Sudan

Baltic Sea

163,000

422,200

180

55

1,380

421

Off Gotland

1. A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in spring 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean.

2. Includes Black Sea and Sea of Azov .

3. The Caspian Sea is called “sea” because the Romans, finding it salty, named it Mare Caspium. Many geographers, however, consider it a lake because it is land-locked.



     
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