world
factbook
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways.The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.

geography

location

Political Map of the World
0.0° N, 25. 0° W
body of water between Africa, Europe, the Arctic Ocean, the Americas, and the Southern Ocean

area

76,762,000 sq km

coastline

111,866 km

climate

tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cabo Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December but are most frequent from August to November

terrain

surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; surface dominated by two large gyres (broad, circular systems of currents), one in the northern Atlantic and another in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin major surface currents: clockwise North Atlantic Gyre consists of the northward flowing, warm Gulf Stream in the west, the eastward flowing North Atlantic Current in the north, the southward flowing cold Canary Current in the east, and the westward flowing North Equatorial Current in the south; the counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre composed of the southward flowing warm Brazil Current in the west, the eastward flowing South Atlantic Current in the south, the northward flowing cold Benguela Current in the east, and the westward flowing South Equatorial Current in the north

elevation

lowest point
Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench
-8,605

natural resources

  • oil
  • gas fields
  • fish
  • marine mammals
  • seals
  • whales
  • sand
  • gravel aggregates
  • placer deposits
  • polymetallic nodules
  • precious stones

people

This entry doesn't have any available people data.

government

This entry doesn't have any available government data.

economy

overview

The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).

communications

This entry doesn't have any available communications data.

energy

This entry doesn't have any available energy data.

transportation

This entry doesn't have any available transportation data.

military

This entry doesn't have any available military data.