Login
Login

List of seas on Earth#Marginal seas by ocean

{{Short description|none}}

{{Redirect|Seas}}

File:Oceans and seas boundaries map-en.svg[https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/29772/1/IHO1953a.pdf INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION – LIMITS OF OCEANS AND SEAS]]]

This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits.[https://www.blue-growth.org/Oceans_Rivers_Seas/Index_Oceans_Seas_Bays_Gulfs_Of_The_World_%20A_To_Z_Lists.htm OCEANS & SEAS OF THE WORLD] In many cases it is a matter of tradition for a body of water to be named a sea or a bay, etc., therefore all these types are listed here. Entities called "seas" which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list, nor are Ocean gyres.

Terminology

  • Ocean – the four to seven largest named bodies of water in the World Ocean, all of which have "Ocean" in the name {{xref|(see: Borders of the oceans for details)}}.
  • Sea has several definitions:{{efn|There is no accepted technical definition of sea among oceanographers. A rather weak definition is that a sea is a subdivision of an ocean, which means that it must have oceanic basin crust on its floor. This definition, for example, accepts the Caspian Sea, which was once part of an ancient ocean, as a sea.{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tLcin2NyJQgC&pg=PA237 | title = The Italian Yearbook of International Law 2004 | isbn = 9789004150270 | last1 = Conforti | first1 = B | last2 = Bravo | first2 = Luigi Ferrari | date = 2005| publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers }} The Introduction to Marine Biology defines a sea as a "landlocked" body of water, adding that the term "sea" is only one of convenience, but the book is written by marine biologists, not oceanographers.{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0JkKOFIj5pgC&pg=PA47 | title = Introduction to Marine Biology | isbn = 9780495561972 | last1 = Karleskint | first1 = George | last2 = Turner | first2 = Richard L | last3 = Small | first3 = James W | date = 2009| publisher = Cengage Learning }} The Glossary of Mapping Sciences similarly states that the boundaries between seas and other bodies of water are arbitrary.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jPVxSDzVRP0C&pg=PA365 |title=The Glossary of the Mapping Sciences – Google Books |access-date=2013-04-19|isbn=9780784475706|year=1994|publisher=ASCE Publications }}}}
  • A division of an ocean, delineated by landforms,{{cite web|url=http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oceanorsea.html |title=What's the difference between an ocean and a sea? |publisher=Oceanservice.noaa.gov |date=11 January 2013 |access-date=19 April 2013}} currents (e.g., Sargasso Sea), or specific latitude or longitude boundaries. This includes but is not limited to marginal seas, and this is the definition used for inclusion in this list.
  • A marginal sea is a division of an ocean, partially enclosed by islands, archipelagos, or peninsulas, adjacent to or widely open to the open ocean at the surface, and/or bounded by submarine ridges on the sea floor.{{cite book|author=American Congress on Surveying and Mapping|title=Glossary of the mapping sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jPVxSDzVRP0C&pg=PA469|access-date=9 December 2010|year=1994|publisher=ASCE Publications|isbn=978-0-7844-0050-0|page=469}}
  • The World Ocean. For example, the Law of the Sea states that all of the World Ocean is "sea",{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sbqBvQy04XwC&pg=PA271 | title = The Law of the Sea: Selected Writings | isbn = 9789004138636 | last1 = Vukas | first1 = B | year = 2004| publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers }}{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5zpbN8I2ZR4C&pg=PA57 | title = Indian Ocean Region: Maritime Regimes for Regional Cooperation | isbn = 9781441959898 | last1 = Gupta | first1 = Manoj | year = 2010| publisher = Springer }}{{cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/od/waterandice/a/sevenseas.htm |title= Discover The Seven Seas of the Earth |publisher=Geography.about.com |access-date=2013-04-19}}{{efn|According to this definition, the Caspian would be excluded as it is legally an "international lake".{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uxmInSrE9vQC&pg=PA74 | title = The Politics of Caspian Oil | isbn = 9780333739730 | last= Gokay | first= Bulent | date = 2001| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan }}}} and this is also common usage for "the sea".
  • Any large body of water with "Sea" in the name, including lakes.
  • River – a narrow strip of water that flows over land from a higher elevation to a lower one
  • Tributary – a small river that flows into a larger one
  • Estuary – the piece of a river that flows into the sea or ocean
  • Strait – a narrow area of water connecting two wider areas of water, also sometimes known as a passage
  • Channel – usually wider than a strait
  • Passage – connects waters between islands, also sometimes known as a strait
  • Canal – a human-made channel
  • Fjard – a large open water between groups of islands

There are several terms used for bulges of ocean that result from indentations of land, which overlap in definition, and which are not consistently differentiated:{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/gulf-coastal-feature|title=gulf – coastal feature}}

  • Bay – generic term; though most features with "Bay" in the name are small, some are very large
  • Gulf – a very large bay, often a top-level division of an ocean or sea
  • Fjord – a long bay with steep sides, typically formed by a glacier
  • Bight – a bay that is typically shallower than a sound
  • Sound – a large, wide bay which is typically deeper than a bight, or a strait
  • Cove – a small, typically sheltered bay with a relatively narrow entrance
  • Inlet – a narrow and long bay similar to a land peninsula, but adjoining the sea
  • Polynya – least used of these terms, a patch of water surrounded by ice

Many features could be considered to be more than one of these, and all of these terms are used in place names inconsistently; especially bays, gulfs, and bights, which can be very large or very small. This list includes large areas of water no matter the term used in the name.

Largest seas by area

The largest terrestrial seas, in decreasing order of area, are:

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

  1. Philippine Sea – {{convert|5.695|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  2. Coral Sea – {{convert|4.791|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  3. American Mediterranean Sea – {{convert|4.200|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  4. Arabian Sea – {{convert|3.862|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  5. Sargasso Sea – {{convert|3.5|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  6. South China Sea – {{convert|3.5|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  7. Weddell Sea – {{convert|2.8|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  8. Caribbean Sea – {{convert|2.754|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  9. Mediterranean Sea – {{convert|2.510|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  10. Gulf of Guinea – {{convert|2.35|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  11. Tasman Sea – {{convert|2.3|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  12. Bay of Bengal – {{convert|2.172|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  13. Bering Sea – {{convert|2|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  14. Sea of Okhotsk – {{convert|1.583|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  15. Gulf of Mexico – {{convert|1.550|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  16. Gulf of Alaska – {{convert|1.533|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  17. Barents Sea – {{convert|1.4|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  18. Norwegian Sea – {{convert|1.383|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  19. East China Sea – {{convert|1.249|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  20. Hudson Bay – {{convert|1.23|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  21. Greenland Sea – {{convert|1.205|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  22. Somov Sea – {{convert|1.15|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  23. Mar de Grau – {{convert|1.14|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  24. Riiser-Larsen Sea – {{convert|1.138|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  25. Sea of Japan – {{convert|1.05|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  26. Argentine Sea – {{convert|1|e6km2|abbr=unit}}
  27. East Siberian Sea – {{convert|987,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  28. Lazarev Sea – {{convert|929,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  29. Kara Sea – {{convert|926,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  30. Scotia Sea – {{convert|900,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  31. Labrador Sea – {{convert|841,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  32. Andaman Sea – {{convert|797,700|km2|abbr=on}}
  33. Laccadive Sea – {{convert|786,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  34. Irminger Sea – {{convert|780,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  35. Solomon Sea – {{convert|720,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  36. Mozambique Channel – {{convert|700,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  37. Cosmonauts Sea – {{convert|699,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  38. Banda Sea – {{convert|695,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  39. Baffin Bay – {{convert|689,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  40. Laptev Sea – {{convert|662,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  41. Arafura Sea – {{convert|650,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  42. Ross Sea – {{convert|637,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  43. Chukchi Sea – {{convert|620,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  44. Timor Sea – {{convert|610,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  45. North Sea – {{convert|575,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  46. Bellingshausen Sea – {{convert|487,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  47. Beaufort Sea – {{convert|476,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  48. Red Sea – {{convert|438,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  49. Black Sea – {{convert|436,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  50. Gulf of Aden – {{convert|410,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  51. Yellow Sea – {{convert|380,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  52. Baltic Sea – {{convert|377,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  53. Caspian Sea – {{convert|371,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  54. Libyan Sea – {{convert|350,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  55. Mawson Sea – {{convert|333,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  56. Levantine Sea – {{convert|320,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  57. Java Sea – {{convert|320,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  58. Gulf of Thailand – {{convert|304,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  59. Celtic Sea – {{convert|300,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  60. Gulf of Carpentaria – {{convert|300,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  61. Celebes Sea – {{convert|280,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  62. Tyrrhenian Sea – {{convert|275,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  63. Sulu Sea – {{convert|260,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  64. Cooperation Sea – {{convert|258,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  65. Persian Gulf – {{convert|251,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  66. Flores Sea – {{convert|240,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  67. Gulf of St. Lawrence – {{convert|226,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  68. Bay of Biscay – {{convert|223,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  69. Aegean Sea – {{convert|214,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  70. Gulf of Anadyr – {{convert|200,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  71. Molucca Sea – {{convert|200,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  72. Oman Sea – {{convert|181,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  73. Ionian Sea – {{convert|169,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  74. Gulf of California – {{convert|160,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  75. Balearic Sea – {{convert|150,000|km2|abbr=on}}
  76. Adriatic Sea – {{convert|138,000|km2|abbr=on}}

{{div col end}}

Marginal seas by ocean

{{Expand list|date=July 2023}}

Seas may be considered marginal between ocean and land, or between oceans in which case they may be treated as marginal parts of either. There is no single ultimate authority on the matter.{{cite book|last=Wang|first=James C. F.|title=Handbook on Ocean Politics & Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrEOofrVra4C|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-26434-4|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GrEOofrVra4C&pg=PA14&dq=%22the+problem+is+basically+definition%22 14]}}

File:Europäisches Nordmeer mit Grenzen.png]]

File:Ionian Sea map.png, Adriatic, Ionian, and Tyrrhenian are all marginal seas within the Mediterranean Sea.]]

File:IrishSeaReliefmap.png]]

File:Arabian Sea map.png as a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean.]]

File:Coral Sea map.png]]

= Arctic Ocean =

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

(clockwise from 180°)

{{div col end}}

=Atlantic Ocean=

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

In addition to the marginal seas listed in the three subsections below, the Arctic Ocean itself is sometimes also considered a marginal sea of the Atlantic.{{cite book |author=James C. F. Wang |title=Handbook on ocean politics & law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrEOofrVra4C&pg=PA14 |access-date=9 December 2010 |year=1992 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313264344 |pages=14–}}{{cite book |last=Longhurst |first=Alan R. |title=Ecological Geography of the Sea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdJZezzrCfQC&pg=PA104 |year=2007 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-455521-1 |page=104}}

{{div col end}}

==Africa and Eurasia==

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

{{div col end}}

==Americas==

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

(coast-wise from north to south)

{{div col end}}

==Northern islands==

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

(from east to west)

{{div col end}}

=Indian Ocean=

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

{{div col end}}

=Pacific Ocean=

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

== Americas ==

{{div col end}}

== Australia and Eurasia ==

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

{{div col end}}

=Southern Ocean=

{{div col start|colwidth=15em}}

  • Amundsen Sea
  • Bellingshausen Sea
  • Cooperation Sea{{efn|name=proposed|Proposed names to the IHO 2002 draft. This draft was never approved by the IHO (or any other organization), and the 1953 IHO document (which does not contain these names which mostly originated from 1962 onward) remains currently in force.{{cite web|url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd (currently in-force) edition|year=1953|publisher=International Hydrographic Organization|access-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008191433/http://www.iho.int/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2011}} Leading geographic authorities and atlases do not use these names, including the 2014 10th edition World Atlas from the National Geographic Society and the 2014 12th edition of the Times Atlas of the World. But Soviet and Russian-issued state maps do include them.[http://www.rubricon.com/imgbyid.asp?ii=1&iid=219112465 Антарктида], [http://www.rubricon.com/ rubricon.com/] (map){{cite web |url=http://gturs.com/Maps/pic/ant_fiz.jpg |title=Антарктида |access-date=2015-06-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910060624/http://gturs.com/Maps/pic/ant_fiz.jpg |publisher=gturs.com |archive-date=2015-09-10}} (map)}}
  • Cosmonauts Sea{{efn|name=proposed}}
  • Davis Sea
  • D'Urville Sea
  • Drake Passage
  • King Haakon VII Sea{{efn|name=proposed}}
  • Lazarev Sea{{efn|name=proposed}}
  • Mawson Sea{{efn|name=proposed}}
  • McMurdo Sound
  • Polynyas in McMurdo Sound
  • Riiser-Larsen Sea
  • Ross Sea
  • Scotia Sea
  • Somov Sea{{efn|name=proposed}}
  • Spencer Gulf
  • Weddell Sea
  • Weddell Polynya/Maud Rise Polynya

{{div col end}}

Defined by ocean currents

While all other seas in the world are defined at least in part by land boundaries, there is only one sea which is defined only by ocean currents:[https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sargassosea.html National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – What is the Sargasso Sea?]

Not included

Entities called "seas" which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list. Excluded are:

See also

{{portal|border=no|Oceans|Water|Geography|Lists|World}}

Notes

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{wiktionary-inline|marginal sea}}

{{Lists of bodies of water}}

{{List of seas}}

{{Physical oceanography|expanded=other}}

*

Seas

Category:Geographic taxonomies

Category:Oceanography