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Posted by on Jun 11, 2016 in TellMeWhy |

How Many Oceans Are There in the World?

How Many Oceans Are There in the World?

How Many Oceans Are There in the World? The world’s ocean is composed of four main bodies of water. If you have ever tried to locate the “seven seas” on a map of the world, you probably found only four: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans.

Because of the principal ocean currents of the world, some authorities divide the world ocean into the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic – a total of seven. Even though we talk about the seven seas, they are really parts of one continuous body of water – the world ocean.

The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and contains 97 percent of the planet’s water, yet more than 95 percent of the underwater world remains unexplored. The ocean and lakes play an integral role in many of the Earth’s systems including climate and weather. The ocean supports the life of nearly 50 percent of all species on Earth and helps sustain that life providing 20 percent of the animal protein and five percent of the total protein in the human diet.

The number of oceans in the world varies on how you look at it. From the scientific point of view there is only one major ocean called the World Ocean and if you include inland seas such as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea there are 3. The scientific method of counting oceans looks at saline bodies of water that have oceanic crust.

Content for this question contributed by Lori Toth, resident of Belle Vernon, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA