The largest ocean of the world is the Pacific Ocean. Why is it so called and interesting?

We all know the names of the four oceans that wash the shores of the continents. This knowledge is given at the school age to us by the science of geography. The Pacific , Atlantic, Indian and Arctic - these are the largest water areas of our planet. The largest of these is the Pacific Ocean, which is sometimes called the Great Ocean. Let's find out what the Pacific is interesting for, why it is so named and how it differs from the others.

general characteristics

The area of the largest ocean is 178.68 million km2, which is more than the entire land on planet Earth. These dimensions are difficult for ordinary people to imagine, even more difficult - to imagine how many interesting and surprising things can hide in the depths of its waters.

The Pacific Ocean is washed by the shores of five continents:

• North-West of Eurasia.
• Southwest of Australia.
• Western shores of South and North America.
• Antarctica from the south.

The Pacific Ocean among all the others is the deepest. The average depth is 3984 m. But the records do not end here. Here is located the deepest place of the entire World Ocean - the Mariana Trench, whose depth is 11022 m. This ocean is considered to be the warmest. To the waters of the Pacific Ocean are the shores of 50 countries. Almost half of the world's population has the opportunity to swim in its salt waters without leaving the territory of its country, and many are thinking about visiting the Pacific, why it is so named. After all, in fact, the storm and tsunami here are not so rare.

Stormy stormy ocean - why is it Quiet?

So, let's figure out who received the name Pacific Ocean, why it is so named and how it happened that the name does not correspond to its behavior at all.

Who is the first navigator who crossed this ocean and gave him that name? Everything happened in 1520. Making a round-the-world expedition, Fernand Magellan on his ships for several months sailed through this, at that time still unnamed, ocean. What is surprising, all the time of his journey was a calm calm weather, on the way there was not a single storm. This fact so impressed Magellan that he called the ocean Quiet.

In fact, the Pacific lithospheric plate, on which this ocean is located, is surrounded by a ring of volcanoes, the eruptions of which cause frequent storms and tsunamis. But even after this feature became clear, the Pacific Ocean was not renamed. This name was assigned to the planet's largest water object in all geographical reference books.

The history of the Pacific knows its other names. Prior to the receipt of his official name in different parts of the earth, he was called in different ways. For example, the South Sea or the Eastern Ocean.

Why is the Pacific so named? The answer to this question is no longer a mystery to us.

The Islands

There are more islands in the Pacific than in the other three. They number up to 30,000. Some stand alone, while others are going to the archipelagos.

There are several types of islands: coral, volcanic and continental (continental).

The largest islands in the Pacific are Kalimantan, New Guinea, the Japanese islands, the Philippine Islands, New Zealand, Hawaiian and many others.

We all heard the expression "paradise island". It can be safely applied to many islands of the Pacific Ocean, because they are a real paradise. A rich vegetation, an amazing animal world, clean air and azure waves - that's what attracts lovers of beauty to these places.

Sea of the Pacific

By the number of seas, the Pacific Ocean is also a record holder. Thirty-one seas are part of it.

Most of the Pacific seas are along Eurasia in the western part of the ocean: Okhotsk, Japan, Bering, East China, Yellow; The Australian coast: Solomonovo, New Guinea, Fiji, the Tasman Sea; Near Antarctica: the sea of Durville, Somov, Ross, the sea of Amundsen. Along the North and South America there are no seas, but there are large bays.