Oceans of the World

Earth’s saltwater is one connected global ocean, but geographers divide it into named basins. This site follows the five-ocean model recognised today: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic oceans. The Southern Ocean—the body of water encircling Antarctica—was the most recent to be widely accepted as a distinct ocean, a status the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formally adopted in 2021.

Oceans cover roughly 71% of the Earth’s surface and hold about 97% of all its water. Together the five named oceans span approximately 379,788,000 km². The Pacific is by far the largest and deepest—larger on its own than all the world’s land combined—while the Arctic is the smallest and shallowest. The deepest point in any ocean lies in the Pacific Ocean, at about 10,925 m.

Within each ocean sit smaller bodies of water—seas, gulfs and bays—that are partly enclosed by land, such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the South China Sea. The boundaries between the open oceans themselves are defined by international convention rather than by any physical barrier, since the water is continuous. Select any ocean below to open its map and see its area, average and greatest depth, and the continents along its coasts. To explore the land instead, visit the continents or open the map of any individual country.