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| The World's Ocean Basin Areas |
Base map from NOAA (NGDC)
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Base map from NOAA (NGDC) |
| The Oceans and Seas of the world cover an area of about 361,059,000 square kilometers, or about 70.8% of the total surface area of the earth (approximately 510,100,000 square kilometers). The Pacific Ocean is the largest, making up 45.8% of the area and 51.6% of the volume of all the marine waters on earth. The Atlantic and Indian oceans are roughly equal in size, covering 22.8% and 20.3% of the total ocean area, and 21.3% and 23.6% of the ocean volumes, respectively. |
| Percent area of world's oceans by basin |
| Ocean Basin | |
Percent | |
| Pacific Ocean | 45.8% | ||
| Atlantic Ocean | 22.8% | ||
| Indian Ocean | 20.3% | ||
| Arctic Ocean | 1.4% | ||
| Adjacent Seas | 9.7% |
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References: Moiseev, P.A. 1971 NOAA-NGDC, 1988 |
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