The Pacific Ocean - Geography in Figures and Facts

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the oceans of our planet. Its area with all the seas is 178.6 million square meters. Kilometers, the average depth is 3980 meters, the volume of water is 710 million cubic meters. Kilometers. It occupies about 40% of the entire earth's surface and about half of its water area. Thus, the original name "Great", given by the Spanish navigator Vasco de Balboa in 1513, fully justifies itself.

In 1520, Magellan crossed the Pacific Ocean and named it because during the three-month trip the expedition members never got into a storm. Subsequently, he repeatedly denied his name and more than once demonstrated to travelers all the grandiose power of the elements.

According to the number of islands, the giant ocean also holds the palm tree. Their number is about 10 thousand, the total area is about 3.6 million square meters. Kilometers. In the northern part there are the Aleutian Islands, in the western part - the Sakhalin, the Japanese and the Kurile Islands, as well as the Philippine, Tasmania, New Zealand with New Guinea, the Small and Large Sunda Islands. In the central and southern part of the ocean are numerous small islands and archipelagos.

The currents of the Pacific are subdivided into warm currents (North Pacific, Alaska, Kuroshio - in its northern part, East Australian, South Passat - in the southern) and cold (Peruvian and Western Winds in the south, Kuril and California in the north). The water temperature at the equator is about 27-28 ° C, in the polar regions - about 0 ° C.

The gulfs of the Pacific Ocean together with the seas and straits occupy more than 30 million square kilometers. Kilometers, which is 18% of its area. Most of the seas are located along the coasts of Eurasia (Bering, Japanese, Okhotsk, etc.), along the Australian coast, and also wash the islands of Southeast Asia. Near the coast of Antarctica are the Amundsen, Ross and Bellingshausen seas.

The largest bays of the Pacific Ocean (Alaska, Panama and California) are washed by the shores of South and North America.

The vegetable world of the ocean is represented in all its diversity mainly at shallow depths along the coasts of islands and coral reefs. The greatest number is concentrated in tropical and equatorial latitudes. Ocean fauna includes more than 100 thousand species from the simplest organisms to a variety of fish, species of which in tropical latitudes there are more than 2000.

Due to the huge extent the Pacific Ocean includes several different climatic zones. Most of it is located in the equatorial, tropical and subtropical belts. Circulation of the atmosphere above the ocean leads to strong winds and storms, especially in the southern temperate latitudes. In the western part of the ocean typhoons are frequent. The air temperature of the western and eastern parts can differ in the same latitudes because of the predominant dominance of warm or cold currents.

In the northern seas of the Pacific Ocean, located in the Arctic, the water freezes in winter due to low temperatures, there are icebergs. In the cold seas washing the coast of Antarctica, the icebergs formed by current and winds are carried out into the open space of the water surface.

The Pacific Ocean is crossed by the most important sea and air routes connecting the countries of the Pacific basin. Through it transit routes to the countries of the Indian and Atlantic oceans pass . The largest international seaports are located on its coast. These are Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Vladivostok, Nakhodka. About half of the world's fish catch is in the Pacific. The most common types of commercial fish are the following: herring, cod, salmon, pollock, sea bass. Crabs, oysters and shrimps are also mined.

"Boundary" 180-th meridian (the border of the change of dates) is also located on its territory.