How many Oceans are there in the world?
It is a given fact that we are surrounded with water. More than 70% of the Earth is covered in water. There are several types of bodies of water ranging from small flowing streams to vast oceans. An ocean is a body of salt water that composes the greater part of the Earth’s hydrosphere. Technically there is only one global ocean, but for geographical purposes, the World Ocean is divided into five distinct named regions, namely the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern (Antarctic Ocean), and Arctic Ocean.
Pacific Ocean
The largest of the Earth’s oceanic divisions, the Pacific Ocean reaches as far as the Arctic region in the north and extends to the Southern Ocean in the south. The Pacific Ocean is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. Covering 165.25 million square kilometres or 63.8 million square miles of area, the Pacific Ocean encompasses about 46% of our planet’s water surface.
Atlantic Ocean
Covering a total area of approximately 106,400,000 square kilometres, the Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean in the world. It encompasses 20% of the surface of the Earth and approximately 29% of our planet’s water surface area. The name “Atlantic” refers to the famous Atlas of Greek mythology. The Atlantic Ocean dwells in an elongated S-shaped basin that extends between Eurasia and Africa to the east and the Americas to the west. The Atlantic Ocean is connected to the Arctic Ocean in the north, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, to the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and to the Southern Ocean in the south.
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean covers approximately 20% of the water on the Earth’s surface making it the third largest of the oceanic divisions. Named after the country India, the Indian Ocean is bounded by Asia on the north, by Africa on the west, by Australia on the east, and by the Southern Ocean on the south. The Indian Ocean has a width of nearly 10,000 kilometres at the southern tips of Africa and Australia. It has an area of about 73,556,000 km squared that includes the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Southern or Antarctic Ocean
The Southern Ocean is also known as the Great Southern Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, South Polar Ocean, and Austral Ocean. It comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean and is considered the fourth largest of the five oceanic divisions in the world. It has a unique ocean zone wherein the cold northward flowing waters from the Antarctic combine with the warmer sub-Antarctic waters.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of all the oceanic divisions. It is located in the Northern Hemisphere and majority of which is in the Arctic North Polar Region. It is the northernmost part of the World Ocean.
To know more about the great oceans of the world, do some simple research on the Internet. It is as easy as when you buy real instagram followers.
by Rosa Becker