Sea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the amounts of water. For other uses, see Sea (disambiguation) and SEA
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, the term refers to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean.[1] It is also used sometimes to describe a large saline lake that lacks a natural outlet, such as the Caspian Sea.
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[edit] List of seas
[edit] Atlantic Ocean
[edit] Arctic Ocean
[edit] Southern Ocean
[edit] Indian Ocean
[edit] Pacific Ocean
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[edit] Landlocked seas
Large/significant lakes, many of which are called "sea".
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[edit] Bodies of water and their sizes
| Rank | Body of water | Square miles (square kilometres) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Ocean | 64,196,000 sq mi (166,266,877 km2) |
| 2 | Atlantic Ocean | 33,400,000 sq mi (86,505,603 km2) |
| 3 | Indian Ocean | 28,400,000 sq mi (73,555,662 km2) |
| 4 | Southern Ocean | 20,327,000 sq mi (52,646,688 km2) |
| 5 | Arctic Ocean | 5,100,000 sq mi (13,208,939 km2) |
| 6 | Arabian Sea | 1,491,000 sq mi (3,861,672 km2) |
| 7 | South China Sea | 1,148,000 sq mi (2,973,306 km2) |
| 8 | Caribbean Sea | 971,000 sq mi (2,514,878 km2) |
| 9 | Mediterranean Sea | 969,000 sq mi (2,509,698 km2) |
| 10 | Bering Sea | 873,000 sq mi (2,261,060 km2) |
| 11 | Bay of Bengal | 838,612 sq mi (2,171,995 km2) |
| 12 | Gulf of Mexico | 582,000 sq mi (1,507,373 km2) |
| 13 | Sea of Okhotsk | 537,000 sq mi (1,390,824 km2) |
| 14 | Sea of Japan | 391,000 sq mi (1,012,685 km2) |
| 15 | Hudson Bay | 282,000 sq mi (730,377 km2) |
| 16 | East China Sea | 257,000 sq mi (665,627 km2) |
| 17 | Andaman Sea | 218,100 sq mi (564,876 km2) |
| 18 | Red Sea | 175,000 sq mi (453,248 km2) |
| 19 | Black Sea | 168,500 sq mi (436,413 km2) |
| 20 | North Sea | 165,000 sq mi (427,348 km2) |
| 21 | Baltic Sea | 147,000 sq mi (380,728 km2) |
| 22 | Yellow Sea | 113,500 sq mi (293,964 km2) |
| 23 | Persian Gulf | 88,800 sq mi (229,991 km2) |
| 24 | Adriatic Sea | 60,000 sq mi (155,399 km2) |
| 25 | Gulf of California | 59,000 sq mi (152,809 km2) |
[edit] Nomenclature
- The Sea of Galilee is a small freshwater lake with a natural outlet, which is called Lake Tiberias or Lake Kinneret on modern Israeli maps, but its original name remains in use.
- The Sea of Cortés is more commonly known as the Gulf of California.
- The Persian Gulf is a sea.
- The Dead Sea is actually a lake, as is the Caspian Sea and the mainly dried up Aral Sea.
[edit] Science
The term "sea" has also been used in quantum physics. Dirac sea is an interpretation of positron emission states that comprises the vacuum.
[edit] See also
- Oceanography
- Inlet
- International Maritime Organization
- List of places on land with elevations below sea level
- Pole of inaccessibility: the locations farthest from any coastline
- Marine debris
- Sea level
- Sea level rise
- Sea salt
- Seven Seas
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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Look up sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seas |
