Geography basics · 4 min
The five oceans and their seas
One connected ocean split by convention, which seas belong to which, and the newest ocean.
Geography basics
One ocean, five names
All the oceans are joined together. Splitting them into five is an agreement about where to draw the lines, not a natural fact.
From largest to smallest: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans.
Lesson notes
Everything from the cards above, on one page to come back to.
One ocean, five names
All the oceans are joined together. Splitting them into five is an agreement about where to draw the lines, not a natural fact.
From largest to smallest: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans.
The newest ocean
The Southern Ocean is the water around Antarctica. The International Hydrographic Organization proposed it in 2000, and National Geographic began marking it on its maps in 2021.
Older atlases split those waters between the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which is why some people still learned four.
Seas belong to oceans
A sea is a smaller part of an ocean, usually partly closed in by land. The Mediterranean, North Sea and Baltic are counted as parts of the Atlantic; the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are part of the Indian Ocean.
Questions
What are the five oceans?
From largest to smallest: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans.
Is the Caspian Sea an ocean or a lake?
A lake. It is called a sea, but it has no connection to any ocean.