Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation), North Atlantic (disambiguation), South Atlantic (disambiguation), and Atlantic Basin (disambiguation).
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean excluding its Arctic and Antarctic regions
Coordinates
0°N25°W / 0°N 25°W / 0; -25[1]
Basin countries
List of bordering countries (not drainage basin), ports
Surface area
85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi)[2] North Atlantic: 41,490,000 km2 (16,020,000 sq mi), South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2 (15,550,000 sq mi)[3]
Average depth
3,646 m (11,962 ft)[3]
Max. depth
Puerto Rico Trench 8,376 m (27,480 ft)[4]
Water volume
310,410,900 km3 (74,471,500 cu mi)[3]
Shore length1
111,866 km (69,510 mi) including marginal seas[1]
Islands
List of islands
Trenches
Puerto Rico; South Sandwich; Romanche
Settlements
List
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi).[2] It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the Old World of Africa, Europe, and Asia from the New World of the Americas.
Through its separation of Europe, Africa, and Asia from the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean has played a central role in the development of human society, globalization, and the histories of many nations. While the Norse were the first known humans to cross the Atlantic, it was the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492 that proved to be the most consequential. Columbus' expedition ushered in an age of exploration and colonization of the Americas by European powers, most notably Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. From the 16th to 19th centuries, the Atlantic Ocean was the center of both an eponymous slave trade and the Columbian exchange while occasionally hosting naval battles. Such naval battles, as well as growing trade from regional American powers like the United States and Brazil, both increased in degree during the early 20th century, and while no major military conflicts took place in the Atlantic in the present day, the ocean remains a core component of trade around the world.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected World Ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south. Other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica. The Atlantic Ocean is divided in two parts, the northern and southern Atlantic, by the Equator.[5]
^ abCite error: The named reference CIA-World was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ab"Atlantic Ocean". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
^ abcCite error: The named reference ETOPO1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Dean, Josh (21 December 2018). "An inside look at the first solo trip to the deepest point of the Atlantic". Popular Science. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
^International Hydrographic Organization, Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd ed. (1953), pages 4 and 13.
The AtlanticOcean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately...
This is a list of islands in the AtlanticOcean, the largest of which is Greenland. Note that the definition of the ocean used by the International Hydrographic...
The AtlanticOcean Road or the Atlantic Road (Norwegian: Atlanterhavsvegen / Atlanterhavsveien) is an 8.3-kilometer (5.2 mi) long section of County Road...
the five oceans are the Pacific Ocean, AtlanticOcean, Indian Ocean, Southern (Antarctic) Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called...
which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Distinct names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern...
Spitsbergen Currents of the AtlanticOcean Angola Current – Temporary ocean surface current Antilles Current – Ocean current Atlantic meridional overturning...
This is a list of notable crossings or attempted crossings of the AtlanticOcean. For the purposes of this list, a transatlantic voyage goes between the...
polewards from the equatorial AtlanticOcean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes (forming North Atlantic Deep Water). This dense water...
Indian ocean, Cyclone Djoungou is the strongest system this month. Cyclone Eleanor affected sparsely over the Mascarene Islands. In the South Atlantic, Tropical...
North Atlantic gyre North Atlantic gyre North Atlantic gyre Indian Ocean gyre North Pacific gyre South Pacific gyre South Atlantic gyre In oceanography...
The AtlanticOcean Tunnel (Norwegian: Atlanterhavstunnelen) is an undersea tunnel that is part of Norwegian County Road 64 which connects Kristiansund...
The Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) is a species of marlin endemic to the AtlanticOcean. It is closely related to, and usually considered conspecific...
Western and Southern Pacific basins, and the Australian region, AtlanticOcean and Indian Ocean. Before the formal start of naming, tropical cyclones were...
list of states and territories (in italics) with a coastline on the AtlanticOcean (including the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas). Cyprus Israel...
rows are described as modern-day rows. The first ocean to be deliberately rowed across was the Atlantic by Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo, two Norwegian-born...
North Atlantic Pacific hurricane Pacific typhoon season South Atlantic tropical cyclone South Pacific tropical cyclone South-West Indian Ocean tropical...
An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the AtlanticOcean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon"...
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is the "main current system in the South and North AtlanticOceans".: 2238 As such, it is a component...
western Atlantic, east of the Americas, leads to the subduction of the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge followed by subduction destroying the Atlantic and Indian...
the three subsections below, the Arctic Ocean itself is sometimes also considered a marginal sea of the Atlantic. Norwegian Sea North Sea Kattegat Skagerrak...
the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coastline where the Eastern United States meets the AtlanticOcean. The...
classic example of the Wilson Cycle is the opening and closing of the AtlanticOcean. It has been suggested that Wilson cycles on Earth started about 3 Ga...
equipped to deal with the tidal currents, and could begin traversing the AtlanticOcean; the Portuguese set up a Navigator's School (although there is much...
principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. The maximum depth of the Southern Ocean, using...
Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending...
subdivided into Indian Ocean Islands and AtlanticOcean Islands. The largest number of islands of Africa are found in the Indian Ocean, with the sovereign...
cargo across the AtlanticOcean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western...
The opening of the North AtlanticOcean is a geological event that has occurred over millions of years, during which the supercontinent Pangea broke up...