thumb|400px|Marginal seas as defined by the [[International Hydrographic Organization]]

This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits. In many cases it is a matter of tradition for a body of water to be named a sea or a bay, etc., therefore all these types are listed here. Entities called "seas" which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list, nor are ocean gyres.

Terminology

  • Ocean – the four to seven largest named bodies of water in the World Ocean, all of which have "ocean" in the name .
  • Sea has several definitions:
  • A division of an ocean, delineated by landforms, currents (e.g., Sargasso Sea), or specific latitude or longitude boundaries. This includes but is not limited to marginal seas, and this is the definition used for inclusion in this list.
  • A marginal sea is a division of an ocean, partially enclosed by islands, archipelagos, or peninsulas, adjacent to or widely open to the open ocean at the surface, and/or bounded by submarine ridges on the sea floor.
  • The World Ocean. For example, the Law of the Sea states that all of the World Ocean is "sea", and this is also common usage for "the sea".
  • Any large body of water with "sea" in the name, including lakes.
  • River – a narrow strip of water that flows over land from a higher elevation to a lower one
  • Tributary – a small river that flows into a larger one
  • Estuary – the piece of a river that flows into the sea or ocean
  • Strait – a narrow area of water connecting two wider areas of water, also sometimes known as a passage
  • Channel – usually wider than a strait
  • Passage – connects waters between islands, also sometimes known as a strait
  • Canal – a human-made channel
  • Fjard – a large open water between groups of islands

There are several terms used for bulges of ocean that result from indentations of land, which overlap in definition, and which are not consistently differentiated:

  • Bay – generic term; though most features with "bay" in the name are small, some are very large
  • Gulf – a very large bay, often a top-level division of an ocean or sea
  • Fjord – a long bay with steep sides, typically formed by a glacier
  • Bight – a bay that is typically shallower than a sound
  • Sound – a large, wide bay which is typically deeper than a bight or a strait
  • Cove – a small, typically sheltered bay with a relatively narrow entrance
  • Inlet – a narrow and long bay similar to a land peninsula, but adjoining the sea
  • Polynya – least used of these terms, a patch of water surrounded by ice

Many features could be considered to be more than one of these, and all of these terms are used in place names inconsistently; especially bays, gulfs, and bights, which can be very large or very small. This list includes large areas of water no matter the term used in the name.

Largest seas by area

The largest terrestrial seas, in decreasing order of area, are:

  1. Philippine Sea –
  2. Coral Sea –
  3. American Mediterranean Sea –
  4. Arabian Sea –
  5. Sargasso Sea –
  6. South China Sea –
  7. Weddell Sea –
  8. Caribbean Sea –
  9. Mediterranean Sea –
  10. Gulf of Guinea –
  11. Tasman Sea –
  12. Bay of Bengal –
  13. Bering Sea –
  14. Sea of Okhotsk –
  15. Gulf of Mexico –
  16. Gulf of Alaska –
  17. Barents Sea –
  18. Norwegian Sea –
  19. East China Sea –
  20. Hudson Bay –
  21. Greenland Sea –
  22. Somov Sea –
  23. Mar de Grau –
  24. Riiser-Larsen Sea –
  25. Sea of Japan –
  26. Argentine Sea –
  27. East Siberian Sea –
  28. Lazarev Sea –
  29. Kara Sea –
  30. Scotia Sea –
  31. Labrador Sea –
  32. Andaman Sea –
  33. Laccadive Sea –
  34. Irminger Sea –
  35. Solomon Sea –
  36. Mozambique Channel –
  37. Cosmonauts Sea –
  38. Baffin Bay –
  39. Laptev Sea –
  40. Arafura Sea –
  41. Ross Sea –
  42. Chukchi Sea –
  43. Timor Sea –
  44. North Sea –
  45. Bellingshausen Sea –
  46. Beaufort Sea –
  47. Celebes Sea –
  48. Banda Sea –
  49. Red Sea –
  50. Black Sea –
  51. Gulf of Aden –
  52. Yellow Sea –
  53. Baltic Sea –
  54. Caspian Sea –
  55. Libyan Sea –
  56. Mawson Sea –
  57. Levantine Sea –
  58. Java Sea –
  59. Gulf of Thailand –
  60. Celtic Sea –
  61. Gulf of Carpentaria –
  62. Tyrrhenian Sea –
  63. Sulu Sea –
  64. Cooperation Sea –
  65. Persian Gulf –
  66. Gulf of St. Lawrence –
  67. Bay of Biscay –
  68. Aegean Sea –
  69. Gulf of Anadyr –
  70. Molucca Sea –
  71. Oman Sea –
  72. Ionian Sea –
  73. Gulf of California –
  74. Balearic Sea –
  75. Adriatic Sea –
  76. Flores Sea –

Marginal seas by ocean

Seas may be considered marginal between ocean and land, or between oceans in which case they may be treated as marginal parts of either. There is no ultimate authority on the matter.

thumb|The [[Norwegian Sea]]

thumb|The [[Aegean Sea|Aegean, Adriatic, Ionian, and Tyrrhenian are all marginal seas within the Mediterranean Sea.]]

thumb|The [[Irish Sea]]

thumb|The [[Arabian Sea as a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean.]]

thumb|[[Coral Sea]]

Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

(clockwise from 180°)

  • Chukchi Sea
  • East Siberian Sea
  • Laptev Sea
  • Kara Sea
  • Barents Sea (connected to the Kara Sea by the Kara Strait)
  • Pechora Sea
  • White Sea
  • Queen Victoria Sea
  • Wandel Sea
  • Greenland Sea
  • Lincoln Sea (recognized by the IHO but not the IMO)
  • Baffin Bay
  • The Northwest Passages
  • Prince Gustaf Adolf Sea
  • Amundsen Gulf
  • Hudson Bay
  • Foxe Basin
  • Bowman Bay
  • Wager Bay
  • Roes Welcome Sound
  • Foxe Channel
  • Bay of Gods Mercy
  • Hudson Strait
  • Ungava Bay
  • Native Bay
  • Evans Strait
  • Fisher Strait
  • James Bay
  • Beaufort Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

In addition to the marginal seas listed in the three subsections below, the Arctic Ocean is sometimes considered a marginal sea of the Atlantic.

Africa and Eurasia

  • Norwegian Sea
  • North Sea
  • Kattegat
  • Skagerrak
  • Wadden Sea
  • Dogger Bank
  • Baltic Sea
  • Gulf of Bothnia
  • Kvarken
  • Bothnian Sea
  • South Kvarken
  • Sea of Åland
  • Archipelago Sea
  • Gulf of Finland
  • Vyborg Bay
  • Neva Bay
  • Koporye Bay
  • Luga Bay
  • Narva Bay
  • Väinameri Sea
  • Gulf of Riga
  • Curonian Lagoon
  • Vistula Lagoon
  • Gdańsk Bay
  • Bay of Pomerania
  • Szczecin Lagoon
  • Bay of Greifswald
  • Rügischer Bodden
  • Strelasund
  • Bay of Lübeck
  • Bay of Kiel
  • Kalmar Strait
  • Bight of Hanö
  • Danish Straits
  • Oresund Strait
  • Fehmarn Belt
  • Great Belt
  • Little Belt
  • English Channel
  • Strait of Dover
  • Irish Sea
  • Celtic Sea
  • Iroise Sea
  • Bay of Biscay
  • Cantabrian Sea
  • Gulf of Cádiz
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Alboran Sea
  • Bosporus
  • Dardanelles
  • Mar Menor
  • Balearic (Catalan) Sea
  • Gulf of Valencia
  • Gulf of Lion
  • Étang de Thau
  • Ligurian Sea
  • Gulf of Genoa
  • Gulf of Saint Florent
  • Tyrrhenian Sea
  • Gulf of Follonica
  • Gulf of Gaeta
  • Gulf of Naples
  • Gulf of Salerno
  • Gulf of Cagliari
  • Strait of Bonifacio
  • Strait of Messina
  • Adriatic Sea
  • Bay of Kotor
  • Kvarner Gulf
  • Gulf of Drin
  • Gulf of Venice
  • Gulf of Trieste
  • Venetian Lagoon
  • Gulf of Manfredonia
  • Ionian Sea
  • Gulf of Taranto
  • Straits of Corfu
  • Ambracian Gulf
  • Gulf of Patras
  • Gulf of Corinth
  • Gulf of Kyparissia
  • Messenian Gulf
  • Laconian Gulf
  • Aegean Sea
  • Myrtoan Sea
  • Argolic Gulf
  • Saronic Gulf
  • Petalioi Gulf
  • South Euboean Gulf
  • North Euboean Gulf
  • Malian Gulf
  • Pagasetic Gulf
  • Thermaic Gulf
  • Thracian Sea
  • Gulf of Saros
  • Singitic Gulf
  • Strymonian Gulf
  • Toronean Gulf
  • Edremit Gulf
  • Gulf of İzmir
  • Icarian Sea
  • Gulf of Gökova
  • Carpathian Sea
  • Sea of Crete
  • Gulf of Chania
  • Kissamou Gulf
  • Mirabello Bay
  • Souda Bay
  • Sea of Marmara
  • Gulf of Burgas Leading geographic authorities and atlases do not use these names, including the 2014 10th edition World Atlas from the National Geographic Society and the 2014 12th edition of the Times Atlas of the World. But Soviet and Russian-issued state maps do include them.
  • Cosmonauts Sea
  • Davis Sea
  • D'Urville Sea
  • Drake Passage
  • King Haakon VII Sea
  • Lazarev Sea
  • Mawson Sea
  • McMurdo Sound
  • Polynyas in McMurdo Sound
  • Riiser-Larsen Sea
  • Ross Sea
  • Scotia Sea
  • Somov Sea
  • Spencer Gulf
  • Weddell Sea
  • Weddell Polynya/Maud Rise Polynya

Defined by ocean currents

While all other seas in the world are defined at least in part by land boundaries, there is only one sea which is defined only by ocean currents:

  • Sargasso Sea – a sea defined by the four ocean currents which create the North Atlantic Gyre

Not included

Entities called "seas" which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list. Excluded are:

  • Lakes, ponds, etc.:
  • Salt lakes with "sea" in the name: Aral Sea, Dead Sea, Caspian Sea, Salton Sea
  • Freshwater lakes with "sea" in the name: Sea of Galilee
  • Bodies of water identified in lakes (bays, straits, etc.)
  • Ocean gyres
  • Seas in fiction, mythology, or religion

See also

  • Inland sea (geology)
  • Mediterranean sea (oceanography)
  • Oceanography
  • List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System

Notes

References