The 5 Oceans of the World - Maps and Details

oceans

Largest Oceans
Deepest Waters
Earth Details

The surface of the planet is approximately 71% water and contains (5) five oceans, including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern. Their borders are indicated on the world image (above) in varied shades of blue.

For many years only (4) four oceans were officially recognized, and then in the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization established the Southern Ocean, and determined its limits. Those limits include all water below 60 degrees south, and some of it, like the Arctic Ocean, is frozen.

The 5 Oceans by Size

Pacific (168,723,000 sq km) larger map
Atlantic (85,133,000 sq km) larger map
Indian (70,560,000 sq km) larger map
Southern (21,960,000 sq km) larger map
Arctic (15,558,000 sq km) larger map

Greatest Depths in the Ocean

Mariana Trench, Pacific 35,827 ft
Puerto Rico Trench, Atlantic 30,246 ft
Java Trench, Indian 24,460 ft
Arctic Basin, Arctic 18,456 ft
Southern Ocean, 23,737 ft

Deepest Oceans and Seas here!

Planet Earth Details

Surface Area of the Planet (510,066,000 sq km)
Land Area on the Planet (148,647,000 sq km) 29.1%
Ocean Area (335,258,000 sq km)
Total Water Area (361,419,000 sq km) 70.9%
Type of Water (97% salt), (3% fresh)

To convert sq km (kilometers) to sq miles, multiply kilometers by: 0.386102; additional measurement multipliers

pacific ocean

This image of the Pacific Ocean seafloor and land elevations was created by the World Data Center for Geophysics & Marine Geology (Boulder, CO), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA.

The large series of volcanoes (some active) encircling the Pacific Ocean are referred to as being part of the Ring of Fire, and notorious for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The Ring of Fire coinciding with the edges of one of the world's main tectonic plates, (the Pacific Plate) contains over 450 volcanoes and is home to approximately 75% of the world's active volcanoes.

Nearly 90% of the world's earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire; most recently, the devastating quakes in Chile, Japan and New Zealand.

About the Author

John Moen
Founder / Cartographer

John Moen is a cartographer who along with his wife are the orignal founders of worldatlas.com. He and his wife, Chris Woolwine-Moen, produced thousands of award-winning maps that are used all over the world and content that aids students, teachers, travelers and parents with their geography and map questions. Today, it's one of the most popular educational sites on the web.