oceans continents seas

7/29/2019 Oceans Continents Seas

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Muhammad Naeem Abbas Bhatti

CSS Aspirant 2013Dear fellows I have gathered all oceans, continents, and some famous seas, their

details with maps in a single document. It will help a lot in your prep and concept

clearance. May you succeed in your goals and also pray for me.

.Earths Landmasses and Oceans with maps and descriptions

Surface Area of the Planet: 510,066,000 sq kmLand 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)

Oceans by size#1 Pacific (155,557,000 sq km) larger map

#2 Atlantic (76,762,000 sq km) larger map

#3 Indian (68,556,000 sq km) larger map#4 Southern (20,327,000 sq km) larger map

#5 Arctic (14,056,000 sq km) larger map

Greatest depths in the oceansMariana Trench, Pacific 35,827 ft

Puerto Rico Trench, Atlantic 30,246 ftJava Trench, Indian 24,460 ft

Arctic Basin, Arctic 18,456 ft

Southern Ocean, 23,737 ft


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Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceans. It extends from the Arctic in the

north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, andthe Americas in the east.

At 165.2 million square kilometres (63.8 million square miles) in area, it covers about

46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it

larger than all of the Earth's land area combined.Extending approximately 15,500 kilometres (9,600 mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic

to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60 S, the Pacific reaches its

greatest east-west width at about 5N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800kilometres (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia and Peru halfway

across the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon.

The Pacific Ocean's lowest known point, and the lowest on earth, is the Mariana Trenchto the east of the Mariana Island. It is 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) below sea level. The

Pacific Ocean's average depth is 4,188metres (14,000 ft).

The Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking due to plate tectonics, while the Atlantic Ocean

is increasing in size, by roughly an inch per year (23 cm/yr) on 3 sides, roughly

averaging 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2) a year.


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Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total

area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi), it covers approximately

22% percent of the Earth's surface and about twenty-six percent of its water surface area.

The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinallybetween the Americas to the west, and Europe and Africa to the east. As one component

of the interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean (which

is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic), to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, theIndian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the far-south.

The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to

delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the AtlanticOcean south of 60 degrees south.

The average depth of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,339 metres (10,955 ft);

without them it is 3,926 metres (12,881 ft). The greatest depth, Milwaukee Deep with

8,605 metres (28,232 ft), is in the Puerto Rico Trench.The Atlantic's width varies from 2,848 kilometres (1,770 mi) between Brazil and Sierra

Leone to over 6,400 km (4,000 mi) in the far-south


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Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceans, covering approximately 20%

of the water on the Earth's surface.

It is bounded on the north by the Indian subcontinent; on the west by East Africa; on the

east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and in the far-south by the SouthernOcean.

The Indian Ocean is nearly 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) wide at the southern tips of

Africa and Australia; its area is 73,556,000 square kilometres (28,350,000 sq mi), whichincludes the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

The ocean's volume is estimated to be 292,131,000 cubic kilometres. Island nations

within the ocean are Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island; Reunion Island;Comoros; Seychelles; Maldives Mauritius; and Sri Lanka. The archipelago of Indonesia

borders the ocean in the east.

The average depth of the Indian Ocean is measured at 3,890 m (12,762 ft). Its deepest

point is the Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m (26,401 ft) deep.


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Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, is also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean

and the South Polar Ocean. It comprises the southernmost waters on the planet, and is

generally accepted to be south of 60S latitude, and encircling the continent ofAntarctica.

The Southern Ocean has typical depths of between 4,000 and 5,000 meters (13,000 to

16,000 ft) with only limited areas of shallow water. Its greatest depth is measured at7,236 meters (23,737 ft) at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench, at 6000'S,

024W.

It is considered the fourth-largest of the planet's five principal oceans. This ocean zone iswhere cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer sub-Antarctic

waters.

Large icebergs are very common in its waters, as well as countless iceberg fragments and

sea ice of varied depths. High winds and large waves in its northern reaches are the norm.

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It

occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of about 14,056,000 km2 (5,427,000sq mi), almost the size of Russia. The coastline is estimated to be 45,390 km (28,200 mi)

long.

In general terms it includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea Beauford Sea Chukchi Sea, East

Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, White Sea and othertributary bodies of water. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and to

the Atlantic Ocean through the Greenland Sea and Labrador Sea.

Surrounded by the land masses of Europe, North America, Greenland, and by severalislands, it is partly covered by sea ice throughout the year, and almost completely in the

winter months.


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The ocean is virtually icelocked from October to June, and ships are subject to

superstructure icing from October to May. Before the advent of modern icebreakers,ships sailing the Arctic Ocean risked being trapped or crushed by sea ice.

Africa

The planet's 2nd largest continent and the second most-populous continent (after Asia)

includes (54) individual countries, and Western Sahara, a member state of the AfricanUnion whose statehood is disputed by Morocco. Note that South Sudan is the continent's

newest country.

With just over a billion people (a 2010 estimate) it accounts for just over 14% of theworld's human population. It also contains the Nile River system, the world's longest, and

the massive Sahara Desert, the world's largest.

Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the

Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the east andsoutheast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.


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North America

The planets 3rd largest continent, includes (23) countries and dozens of possessions andterritories. It contains all Caribbean and Central America countries, Canada, Mexico, the

United States of America, as well as Greenland - the worlds largest island.

Positioned in the planet's northern and western hemispheres, it's bordered in the north by

the Arctic Ocean, in the east by the Atlantic Ocean, in the southeast by the Caribbean Seaand Gulf of Mexico, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Additional North American countries (not shown on this map) include:

Antigua and Barbuda,Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the

Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago.


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South America

The planet's 4th largest continent, includes (12) independent countries and (3) major

territories; the Falkland Islands, Galapagos Islands and French Guiana.

The continent contains the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela; the

largest river (by volume), the Amazon River; the longest mountain range, the Andes, andthe driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile.

In addition, it includes the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest; the highest capital

city, La Paz, Bolivia; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, LakeTiticaca; and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world's southernmost

permanently inhabited community, Puerto Toro, Chile.

Size: 13,209,000 sq km, 5,100,021 sq miles(Varies due to changing ice shelves)

Percent of Earth's Land: 8.9%


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AntarcticaAlmost 98% solid ice was finally considered a continent in 1840, and not just a group of

isolated islands. Today it has active territorial claims submitted by Argentina, Australia,

Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. (Many of these claims

are not recognized by some countries and remain in a constant disputed status)Capital City none

Climate Antarctica is the coldest and windiest spot on the planet. In fact, the lowest

temperature ever recorded on Earth was recorded in Antarctica (-129.3F) and the meanwinter temperatures range from -40 to -94F. Winds are commonly measured at up to

200 miles per hour.

The Antarctic (or Antarctica) Circle is one of the five major circles or parallels of latitudethat mark maps of the Earth.

Shown on the image above with a dashed red line, this parallel of latitude sits at

approximately 66.33 south of the Equator. It marks the northern limit of the area within

which, for one day or more each year, the sun does not set or rise.


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The length of continuous day or night increases southward from the Antarctic Circle,

mounting to six months at the South Pole.Highest Point Vinson Massif at 16,066 ft. (4,897 m) (map)

Lowest Point Bentley Subglacial Trench, -2,555 m)

Latitude/Longitude 90 S, 0.00 EOfficial Language none

Official Currency none

Population officially none, but governmental research stations are populated with small

groups of scientists at all times. In addition, during the 2009/2010 season, nearly 37,000tourists visited the continent.

OCEANIAThe smallest continent, is without doubt one of the most diverse and fascinating areas on

the planet.

A large percentage of geography experts now consider the long-established continent of

Australia to be more accurately defined as Australia/Oceania.Collectively it then combines all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, as well

as the thousands of coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific Ocean, including

the Melanesia and Polynesia groups.Oceania also includes Micronesia, a widely scattered group of islands that run along the

northern and southern edges of the Equator.


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The Middle East(or West Asia) sits where Africa, Asia and Europe meet. The countries of the Middle East

are all part of Asia, but for clarity reasons we geographically show them here as a

separate landmass.

As a point-of-interest, Armenia and Azerbaijan have long been associated with theMiddle East, but in recent years, some sources now consider them to be more closely

aligned with Europe based on their modern economic and political trends. We havemoved in that direction, and the same applies for the island country of Cyprus, as it does

for Georgia, the former Russian republic.

Here we attempt to show the modern definition of the Middle East, but in the world of

geography, there are often many answers (or personal or political opinions) to whatappears to be a simple question.


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Europethe planet's 6th largest continent, includes 47 countries and assorted dependencies,

islands and territories.Europe's recognized surface area covers about 9,938,000 sq km (3,837,083 sq mi) or 2%

of the Earth's surface, and about 6.8% of its land area.

In exacting geographic definitions, Europe is really not a continent, but part of thepeninsula of Eurasia which includes all of Europe and Asia. However, it's still widely

referred to as an individual continent.

The European continent, bordered by numerous bodies of water, is separated from Asiaby Russia's Ural Mountains and by the Caspian and Black Seas. It is separated from

Africa by the Mediterranean Sea.


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AsiaAs the largest and most populous continent in the world with just over 3.8 billion people,

Asia is composed of a wide variety of ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics,

historical ties, and governmental systems.Geographically the continent makes up 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area, and 29.5%

of its land area.

In the west, Asia is bordered by Europe, the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea,as well by the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus Strait, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

In the east, Asia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, and an almost endless stretch of bays

and seas.

The Arctic Ocean and a handful of seas front the northern border, while the Bering Seaseparates Asia from North America. In the southwest the Red Sea and isthmus of Suez

separate the continent from Africa.

The Indian Ocean fronts most of Asia's southern borders, along with a series of bays,gulfs and seas, as well as extensive chains of both inhabited and uninhabited islands.


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Burma: Military authorities have promoted the name Myanmar since 1989 as the

conventional name for their state. That decision was not (and is not) approved by anysitting legislature in Burma, and is not accepted by the U.S. government. However,

Myanmar is widely accepted by numerous countries, and by the United Nations.

European Russia: The Russian landmass west of the Ural Mountains is commonlyreferred to as European Russia in most educational atlases, and by the vast majority of

geography experts. It is not a separate country, but rather called that because of its

political, cultural and geographical blendings with Europe. For reference purposes it is

shown above to the west of the dashed-line, however, the entire country (as a whole) isstill considered part of the continent of Asia.

Countries considered part of the Middle East (or West Asia) is shown in a lighter shade

of gray. Note that they are all still a part of the continent of Asia.Opinions vary as to what countries make up the modern definition of Asia and the

Middle East. Historically, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been long associated with theMiddle East, but in recent years, some sources now consider them to be more closely

aligned with Europe based on their modern economic and political trends. We have

moved in that direction, and the same can be said for the island country of Cyprus.

Taiwan is still considered by China to be its 23rd province, and not an independentcountry. Very few other country governments accept China's claims of sovereignty over

Taiwan.


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Turkey is officially, politically and geographically considered part of both Asia and

Europe. The small northwestern portion of Turkey named (Thrace) is a recognized part ofEurope, while the largest part (Anatolia) is located in the Middle East, a part of Asia.

Mediterranean SeaThis inland sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia, and in the south by

Africa. This 969,100 sq. mile body of water is approximately 2,300 miles in length, and

has a maximum depth of 16,896 ft. Major subdivisions include the Adriatic Sea, AegeanSea, Balearic Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea and Liguria Sea.

Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea located between far-southeastern Europe and the far-

western edges of the continent of Asia and the country of Turkey.

It's bordered by Turkey, and by the countries of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and

Georgia.It connects to the Mediterranean Sea first through the Bosporus Strait, then through the

Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles Strait, then south through the Aegean Sea and the

Sea of Crete.Many rivers flow into the Black Sea but the two most important include the Danube and

the Dnipro.

Excluding the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea is 436,400 sq. km (168,500 sq. miles) in size,and has a maximum depth of 2200 meters (7,218 ft.).

Over many centuries the Black Sea has been of critical importance to regional

commerce. Today this body of water serves as a primary highway for the transport of

energy to Europe from Russia and western Asia.This valuable economic conduit is one of the world's busiest waterways, and in 2005

over 55,000 ships, including almost 6,000 oil tankers passed through the Bosporus Strait,

most carrying Russian oil.


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Red Sea

The Red Sea is an extension (or inlet) of the Indian Ocean, located between Africa and

Asia.

Entrance to the sea in the south is through the Gulf of Aden and the somewhat narrow

Bab el Mandeb (strait).In the north the sea is accessed from Middle Eastern countries via the Gulf of Aqaba (or

Gulf of Eilat.) The Mediterranean Sea provides a conduit south through the Suez Canal

and Gulf of Suez.This salty sea is just over 190 miles (300 km) across at its widest point, and about 1,200

miles (1,900 km) in length.There's a measured maximum depth of 8,200 feet (2,500 m), and an estimated average

depth of 1,640 feet (500 m). Much of the immediate shoreline is quite shallow.

With hot sunny days, and the lack of any significant rainfall, desert dust storms are

known to sweep across the sea. High heat combined with the lack of precipitation

facilitates high levels of evaporation - thus the sea's high salinity.Regardless, the consistent sunshine, as well as white sand beaches, pristine coral reefs

and a scattering of shipwrecks are major attractions for scuba divers and sun worshipers.

Resorts like Sharm al-Sheikh and others in Egypt's "Red Sea Riviera" along the Gulf ofAqaba and Gulf of Suez are fast becoming major tourist destinations.


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Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea, located in western Asia on the eastern edges of Europe, is the largest

lake on the planet.History records that it's called a sea because the Romans found it salty, especially in the

southern reaches, and the name stuck.The measured surface area is 371,000 sq km (143,244 sq mi), and the maximum depth is

at 1025 m (3,363 ft).

The sea is bordered by the countries of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan

and Iran.Oil and natural gas production platforms are replete along the edges of the sea. In

addition, large quantities of sturgeon live in its waters, and the caviar produced from their

eggs is a valuable commodity.

Fresh water flows into the sea via the Volga River and Ural River in the north, however,the sea remains somewhat salty, central and south.


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Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea positioned between the eastern

coastline of Italy, and countries of the Balkan Peninsula, from Slovenia, south throughCroatia. Montenegro, and on to Albania.

The southern boundary of the sea ends in the Strait of Otranto between Albania andItaly's Salento Peninsula. Immediately south of that strait the Ionian Sea begins.

The distance from Brindisi to Venice is 685 km (426 mi), and from Ancona to Split is

228 km (142 mi). The sea is about 805 km (500 mi) in length, with an estimated area of135,250 sq km (52,220 sq mi).

Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Split and Venice are its chief ports and the

sea is well served by regional ferries.


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Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf is an extension of the Arabian Sea, positioned in the heart of the Middle

East.

It connects with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz,and it's approximately 615 mi (990 km) long.

The Persian Gulf is certainly one of the most vital bodies of water on the planet, as gas

and oil from Middle Eastern countries flow through it, supplying much of the world'senergy needs.

Over many centuries the Persian Gulf has been a flash point for controversy. In 1990,

after Iraq invaded Kuwait, an international coalition led by the United States drove Iraqout, but as they left Iraq's military set fire to hundreds of Kuwati oil fields, causing a

major environmental disaster in the area. In 2003, tension in the gulf increased again as

U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq, and powerful naval forces from both countriesremain in its waters, mostly to protect the flow of oil.


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