Oceans of the world

What are the five oceans of the world?

Oceans are large bodies of salt water. They cover about two thirds of the Earth. There are five oceans:

• The Pacific Ocean
• The Atlantic Ocean
• The Indian Ocean
• The Arctic Ocean
• The Southern Ocean

The Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean. It covers about a third of the Earth.

The Pacific Ocean stretches from the continents of Asia and Oceania on the east, to North and South America on the west. It also stretches across both sides of the Equator, which is shown in this picture by the red dotted line.

The Equator splits the Pacific Ocean into two parts: The North Pacific and the South Pacific.

The Atlantic Ocean

The world’s second largest ocean is the Atlantic Ocean. It covers about a quarter of the Earth.

To the west of the Atlantic Ocean are the continents of North and South America. Europe and Africa are to the east.

As with the Pacific, the Equator splits the Atlantic Ocean into two parts: The North Atlantic and South Atlantic.

The Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean.

It is in between the continents of Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The Southern Ocean

The water surrounding Antarctica is called the Southern Ocean. It is near the South Pole. It is very cold and there are icebergs floating in the water, even in the summer.

The Southern Ocean is the second smallest ocean.

The Arctic Ocean

The smallest and shallowest ocean is the Arctic Ocean. It surrounds the Arctic and the North Pole.

The Arctic is the coldest of all the oceans. Most of the Arctic Ocean is covered with ice all year.

Watch: The World and its oceans

What are oceans like?

All five oceans are connected with each other, and water flows between them.

The deepest known area of the ocean is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific. It is nearly 11,000 metres deep. It is so deep that if you put Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, at the bottom of the trench, the top of the mountain would still be under water.

The ocean floor can be flat or it can have caves and mountains.

The weather can be very extreme on the oceans. There can be very high winds and huge waves.

Activity: Oceans quiz