How many seas are there on earth?
The oceans, also called seas, are part of the earth. Exactly how many there are depends on which counting method is used. Therefore, different numbers can be found in the literature.
Many assume three or five seas on earth
- When asked, many people indicate three oceans. This refers to the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
- In principle, this is also correct. In this perspective, one counts the Arctic Ocean in the north (hence also called the Arctic Ocean) simply to the Atlantic and the Antarctic Ocean (also Southern Ocean) as one that encompasses it Demarcation.
- If you do not add the two, there are consequently five great oceans on earth. Both views are legitimate, however, since all of the oceans on earth interlock and delimitation is therefore arbitrary.
Whether there are other seas
- However, within the three or five great oceans, many more limits have been considered. If you pay attention to every boundary imagined by humans, suddenly there are a multitude of seas.
- The Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans are delimited by the continents. But there are submarine connections that lead to the creation of numerous tributaries and Mediterranean seas.
- If part of the sea is completely in one continent, this is also known as the "intra-continental Mediterranean". In total there are four of them on earth: the Baltic Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Hudson Bay.
- But there are also a large number of so-called "marginal seas" that are still on the edge of a continent. An example of this is the North Sea or the Irish Sea.
- A third group of "independent" seas, which in truth are only separated from the main seas, are called "intercontinental seas" because they border on several continents. Examples are the aforementioned Arctic Ocean or the European Mediterranean.
Difference between sea and ocean
Our earth consists for the most part of water and these are divided into ...
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