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The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Antarctic in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia on the west and the Americas on the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 feet).

Overview

The ocean encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million square kilometres (69.4 million sq mi and 161 million cubic mi) —significantly larger than Earth's entire landmass, with room for another Africa to spare. Extending approximately 15,500 kilometres (9,600  mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean), the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 kilometres (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia and Peru - halfway across the world. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) below sea level. Its average depth is 4,280 metres (14,000 ft)

Major ports and harbours

  • Manta, Ecuador
  • Manzanillo, Mexico
  • Mazatlan, Mexico
  • Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Metro Manila, Philippines
  • Nampo, North Korea
  • Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
  • Oakland, California, United States
  • Panama City, Panama
  • Portland, Oregon, United States
  • Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
  • Puerto Montt, Chile
  • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
  • Qingdao, People's Republic of China
  • San Antonio, Chile
  • San Diego, California, United States
  • San Francisco, California, United States
  • Sapporo, Japan
  • Seattle, Washington, United States
  • Shanghai, People's Republic of China
  • Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
  • Singapore
  • Songkhla, Thailand
  • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Tacoma, Washington, United States
  • Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
  • Talcahuano, Chile
  • Tauranga, New Zealand
  • Tianjin, People's Republic of China
  • Tijuana, Mexico
  • Valparaiso, Chile
  • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
  • Vladivostok, Russia
  • Xiamen, People's Republic of China
  • Yantai, People's Republic of China
  • Yokohama, Japan    

    External results

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