"Atlantic", "North Atlantic", "South Atlantic", "Atlantic Basin" and "Atlantic coast" redirect

here. For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation), North Atlantic (disambiguation), South
Atlantic (disambiguation), Atlantic Basin (disambiguation), and Atlantic Coast
(disambiguation).

The Atlantic Ocean, not including Arctic and Antarctic regions

Earth's oceans

Arctic

Pacific

Atlantic

Indian

Southern

World Ocean

Play media
This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the ISS. The pass starts from just
northeast of the island of Newfoundland over the North Atlantic Ocean to central Africa, over
South Sudan.
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceanic divisions, following the
Pacific Ocean. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi),[1]
it covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water
surface area. The first part of its name refers to Atlas of Greek mythology, making the
Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas".
The oldest known mention of "Atlantic" is in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC
(Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa (Greek: ; English: Sea of Atlas). The term
Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was applied to the southern Atlantic as late as the
mid-19th century.[2] Before Europeans discovered other oceans, their term "ocean" was
synonymous with the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar that are now known as the
Atlantic. The early Greeks believed this ocean to be a gigantic river encircling the world.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between
Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the
interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific
Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the
south (other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica). The
equator subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean. The term
"Central Atlantic" refers to the area between South America and Africa north of the
Equator;[3] while geographically part of the North Atlantic, its character is very different to
the waters to the north between North America and Europe.

Contents

1 Geography

2 Cultural significance

3 Ocean floor

4 Water characteristics

5 Climate

6 History
o 6.1 Notable crossings

7 Economy

8 Terrain
o 8.1 Natural resources
o 8.2 Natural hazards

9 Current environmental issues

o 9.1 Marine pollution

10 Bordering countries and territories

o 10.1 Europe
o 10.2 Africa
o 10.3 South America