Kids Portal For Parents India Kids Network
Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world, which covers almost one-third of Earth’s total surface. Let us know some fun and interesting facts about Pacific Ocean.
Pacific Ocean is the largest of the five oceans on Earth, which extends from Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south and from Asia and Australia in the west to the Americas in the east. The name ‘pacific’ has been derived from the Latin name ‘Mare Pacificum‘, which means ‘peaceful sea’. Pacific Ocean was so named by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer. Equator passes through the ocean, dividing it into parts – North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. In case you are interested in knowing more about the Pacific Ocean, browse through the fun and interesting facts listed below.
Fun and Interesting Facts:
- Pacific Ocean is spread over an area of 165.2 million sq km, which includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
- Pacific Ocean covers about 46% of the Earth’s water surface and about 32% of its total surface area.
- Pacific Ocean is larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined.
- Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific, at a depth of 10,911 m, is the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean as well as the world. Its depth is more than the height of Mt. Everest.
- This ocean reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches for approximately 19,800 kilometers.
- The average depth of this ocean is 4,280 meters (14,000 ft).
- There are more than 25,000 islands in this ocean, the number being more than count of islands in the rest four oceans.
- West Pacific (near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere, while the East Pacific (near the Americas) is in the Western Hemisphere.
- The water temperatures in this ocean range from freezing in the pole-ward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator.
- This ocean is almost triangular in shape, narrow in the Arctic north and broad in the Arctic south.
- This ocean is the largest, the deepest as well as the oldest ocean in the world.
- The island of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, is the largest landmass entirely within the this ocean.
- Almost all the smaller islands of this ocean lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from Southeast Asia to Easter Island.
- There are basically four types of islands in the Pacific Ocean – continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms.
- This ocean was first sighted by Europeans, in early 16th century. Even amongst them, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first.
- This ocean is connected with Arctic Ocean by the Bering Strait and with Atlantic Ocean by Drake Passage, Straits of Magellan and Panama Canal.
- Almost the entire rim of the Pacific basin is ringed with volcanoes and earthquake areas.
- The coral islands in this ocean, called atolls, are formed on the top of submerged volcanoes by coral polyps.
- This ocean is connected with Indian Ocean by passages in the Malay Archipelago and between Australia and Antarctica.
- The Great Barrier Reef in this ocean, off the coast of Australia, is the longest reef in the world.
