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The world’s largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean, covers about one third of the Earth’s surface. This massive ocean is double the size of the Atlantic and contains twice its volume of water. The area of the Pacific Ocean, without its surrounding seas, is 165 million square kilometres. With the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk, the Bering, Celebes, Coral, East China, Sulu and Yellow Seas, its total area exceeds 179 million square kilometres. All of the continental land masses on the planet could be placed in the Pacific Ocean, and there would still be room left over.
What’s in a Name?The Pacific Ocean was named by legendary navigator Ferdinand Magellan. A native of Portugal, Magellan renounced his loyalty to that nation after King Emanuel rejected Magellan’s petition for a post within the royal navy. Magellan then left for Spain, which agreed to support Magellan’s claim of a western route to the Spice Islands through a seaway near the southern tip of South America.
On September 20, 1519, Magellan and a crew of 270 men set sail from Spain on their around-the-world voyage in five small vessels including his flagship Trinidad, Concepcion, San Antonio, Victoria, and Santiago. It took the fleet, or at least the three remaining ships in the fleet, 38 days to navigate the strait around South America that was to bear Magellan’s name. During the last week of November, the fleet emerged into what Magellan described as a “beautiful, peaceful ocean.” Thus, it was named the Pacific Ocean (“pacific” meaning “peaceful.
Upon entering the Pacific Ocean, Magellan mistakenly thought the Spice Islands were only a short voyage away. Nearly four months later, in March 1521, he and his crew finally reached what is known today as the Philippines. A few weeks later, he was fatally wounded after becoming involved in a dispute between warring Philippine tribes. Only one ship, Victoria, and 18 of Magellan’s original crew members returned to Spain, thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. Although Magellan’s route proved impractical for the spice trade, his voyage has been called the greatest single human achievement on the seas.
Total Area:
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world’s five oceans, followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. It covers an area of about 155 million square kilometers (about 60 million square miles). It is larger than the total land area of the world and about 15 times the size of the United States.
IslandsMore islands are found in the Pacific than in all of the other oceans combined. Most of these 25,000 islands are huddled near the equator, between the 30°N and 30°S latitudes. Those found to the west including Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and New Zealand, which arise from continental plates. Other South Pacific islands are either volcanic in origin, like the Polynesian islands or are coral islands like those of Micronesia. Canada’s Pacific islands like the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Juan de Fuca Islands, the small Gulf Islands, and the very large Vancouver Island all arise from the Canadian section of the Pacific continental ****f.
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