Documents for "Oceans and Continents":

• Aden, Gulf of ä´den, ā´- , western arm of the Arabian Sea, 550 mi (885 km) long, lying between Yemen and Somalia; connected with the Red Sea by the Bab el Mandeb. The gulf is on the great Mediterranean Sea-Indian Ocean...

• Adriatic Sea arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. It extends c.500 mi (800 km) from the Gulf of Venice, at its head, SE to the Strait of Otranto, which leads to the Ionian Sea...

• Aegean Sea Gr. Aigaion Pelagos, Turkish Ege Denizi, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, c.400 mi (640 km) long and 200 mi (320 km) wide, off SE Europe between Greece and Turkey; Crete and Rhodes mark its southern limit. Irregular in shape, it is dotted...

• Aegina, Gulf of see Saronic Gulf , Greece.

• Africa second largest continent, c.11,677,240 sq mi (30,244,050 sq km) including adjacent islands; 1997 est. pop. 743,000,000. Broad to the north (c.4,600 mi/7,400 km wide), Africa straddles the equator...

• Algoa Bay arm of the Indian Ocean, indenting Eastern Cape, South Africa. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th cent., and it was used as an anchorage. Port Elizabeth is on the shore of the bay.

• All Saints Bay Brazil: see Todos os Santos Bay.

• Aqaba, Gulf of northeastern arm of the Red Sea, 118 mi (190 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16.1 to 24.1 km) wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas; a part of the Great Rift Valley. The gulf, which is entered...

• Arabian Gulf see Persian Gulf.

• Arabian Sea ancient Mare Erythraeum, northwest part of the Indian Ocean, lying between Arabia and India. The Gulf of Aden, extended by the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Oman, extended by the Persian Gulf, are its principal arms. The...

• Arafura Sea shallow part of the Pacific Ocean, between the Timor and Coral seas, separating Australia from New Guinea. It contains several islands of Indonesia. The Torres Strait to the east is a treacherous...

• Arctic Ocean the smallest ocean, c.5,400,000 sq mi (13,986,000 sq km), located entirely within the Arctic Circle and occupying the region around the North Pole.

• Asia the world's largest continent, 17,139,000 sq mi (44,390,000 sq km), with about 3.3 billion people, nearly three fifths of the world's total population.

• Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas).

• Baltic Sea arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.163,000 sq mi (422,170 sq km), including the Kattegat strait, its northwestern extension. The Øresund, Store Bælt, and Lille Bælt connect the Baltic Sea with the...

• Banda Sea section of the Pacific Ocean, c.600 mi (970 km) long and c.300 mi (480 km) wide, E Indonesia, outlined by the South Molucca islands. The deepest point is c.24,000 ft (7,300 m). Reefs and currents...

• Bantry Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 21 mi (34 km) long and 4 mi (6.4 km) wide, Co. Cork, SW Republic of Ireland. It is one of Europe's best natural anchorages. At the head of the bay is Bantry. Bear and...

• Barataria Bay SE La., separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Grand and Grand Terre islands. It is linked to the Intracoastal Waterway by a navigable channel. The bay is the center of the Louisiana shrimp industry...

• Barnegat Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.30 mi (50 km) long, E N.J., inside Long Beach Island and Island Beach Peninsula. It is a heavily used recreational asset in an area that has boomed since the 1950s.

• Bass Strait channel, 80 to 150 mi (129-241 km) wide, between Tasmania and Victoria, SE Australia, connecting the Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea; Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne are on the northwest coast. Bass...

• Belle Isle, Strait of c.35 mi (60 km) long and from 10 to 15 mi (16-24 km) wide, between the island of Newfoundland and Labrador-Ungava peninsula, Canada. The northern entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is deep...

• Bengal, Bay of arm of the Indian Ocean, c.1,300 mi (2,090 km) long and 1,000 mi (1,610 km) wide, bordered on the W by Sri Lanka and India, on the N by Bangladesh, and on the E by Myanmar and Thailand; the Andaman...

• Bermuda Triangle area in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida where a number of ships and aircraft have vanished. Also known as the Devil's Triangle, it is bounded at its points by Melbourne, Fla.; Bermuda; and Puerto...

• Biscay, Bay of arm of the Atlantic Ocean, indenting the coast of W Europe from Ushant island (Île d'Ouessant) off Brittany, NW France, to Cape Ortegal, NW Spain. The bay is noted for its sudden, severe storms...

• Biscayne Bay shallow, narrow inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.40 mi (60 km) long, SE Fla. Famous resort areas, including Miami and Miami Beach, are on the NW and NE respectively. Tourism is the economic...

• Black Sea inland sea, c.159,600 sq mi (413,360 sq km), between SE Europe and Asia, connected with the Mediterranean Sea by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. It is c.750 mi (1,210 km)...

• Bohai or Po Hai , arm of the Yellow Sea, indenting the coast of N China; bordered by Shandong, Hebei, and Liaoning provs. and Tianjin Municipality; the Liaodong Gulf is its northeast extension. The Huang He (Yellow...

• Bonavista Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.40 mi (60 km) long and 40 mi (60 km) wide, E N.L., Canada, on the E coast of Newfoundland. The bay is irregular and filled with islands. Cape Bonavista, the headland...

• Bosporus [Gr.,=ox ford, in reference to the story of Io], Turk. Boğaziçi, strait, c.20 mi (30 km) long and c.2,100 ft (640 m) wide at its narrowest, separating European from Asian Turkey and joining the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul is on the Bosporus. At its narrowest point stand two famous castles: Anadolu Hisar (1390) on the Asian side and Rumeli Hisar (1452) on the European side. With the Dardanelles , the Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean; it is thought to have been a dry riverbed as recently as 7,600 years ago. The Bosporus Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension...

• Botany Bay inlet, New South Wales, SE Australia, just S of Sydney. It was visited in 1770 by James Cook, who proclaimed British sovereignty over the east coast of Australia. The site of the landing is marked...

• Bothnia, Gulf of see Baltic Sea.

• Bouvet Island uninhabited volcanic island, c.58 sq mi (150 sq km), S Atlantic Ocean, about 1,600 mi (2,576 km) SW of the Cape of Good Hope. A Norwegian possession since 1928, Bouvet is almost completely covered...

• Bristol Channel inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.85 mi (140 km) long and from 5 to 50 mi (8.1-80 km) wide, stretching westward from the mouth of the River Severn and separating Wales from SW England. Its chief bays...

• Buzzards Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 30 mi (48 km) long, from 5 to 10 mi (8-16 m) wide, SE Mass., connected with Cape Cod Bay by the Cape Cod Canal and bounded on the SE by the Elizabeth Islands. Its...

• California, Gulf of or Sea of Cortés, arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long and 50 to 130 mi (80-209 km) wide, NW Mexico; separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland. The gulf is part of a depression in the earth's surface that extends inland to the Coachella Valley, S Calif. The Imperial Valley and the Salton Sea , once part of the gulf, have been cut off from it by the growth of the Colorado River delta. The gulf deepens from north to south; its greatest depth is c.8,500 ft (2,590 m). The coastline is irregular, with numerous islands; Tiburon, inhabited by aboriginal tribes, is the...

• Cam Ranh Bay inlet of the South China Sea, 10 mi (16 km) long and 20 mi (32 km) wide, S Vietnam. It is an excellent harbor linked to the sea by a strait (1 mi/1.6 km wide). The bay was the site of one of the...

• Caribbean Sea tropical sea, c.970,000 sq mi (2,512,950 sq km), arm of the Atlantic Ocean, Central America. It is bordered on the N and E by the West Indies archipelago, on the S by South America, and on the W...

• Carpentaria, Gulf of arm of the Arafura Sea, 305 mi (491 km) wide and 370 mi (595 km) long, indenting the northern coast of Australia. On its eastern shore, near Weipa, lies a vast bauxite deposit. Willem Jansz...

• Casco Bay deep inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 200 sq mi (518 sq km), SW Maine. The bay, with its more than 200 wooded, hilly islands, has many summer estates and resorts. Portland, Maine, is the principal...

• Chaleur Bay inlet of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, c.85 mi (140 km) long and from 15 to 25 mi (24-40 km) wide, between N N.B. and the Gaspé Peninsula, E Que., Canada. It is the submerged valley of the Restigouche...

• Chesapeake Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.200 mi (320 km) long, from 3 to 30 mi (4.8-48 km) wide, and 3,237 sq mi (8,384 sq km), separating the Delmarva Peninsula from mainland Maryland. and Virginia. The drowned estuary of the Susquehanna River, formed in an ancient meteorite impact zone, the bay is fed by rivers including the Potomac,...

• Chesha Bay Rus. Cheshskaya Guba, inlet of the Barents Sea, 84 mi (135 km) wide and 62 mi (100 km) long, Nenets Autonomous Area, N central European Russia. It receives the Chesha, Vizhas, Oma, and Pesha rivers....

• Chihli, Gulf of China: see Bohai.

• Clew Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.15 mi (25 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, Co. Mayo, W Republic of Ireland. Nearly 300 islands are found in the eastern part of the bay, some of which are...

• Cook Strait channel, c.15 mi (24 km) wide, between the North Island and the South Island, New Zealand. It was first explored in 1770 by Capt. James Cook.

• Coral Sea southwest arm of the Pacific Ocean, between Australia, New Guinea, and Vanuatu. The Great Barrier Reef lies along its western edge. During World War II it was the scene of a major U.S. victory...

• Corinth, Gulf of inlet of the Ionian Sea, c.80 mi (130 km) long and from 3 to 20 mi (4.8-32 km) wide, indenting central Greece and separating the Peloponnesus from the Greek mainland. It is connected with the Saronic Gulf by the 4-mi (6.4-km) Corinth Canal (which cuts across the Isthmus of Corinth at sea level) and with the Gulf of Pátrai by the Ríon...

• Cortés, Sea of see California, Gulf of.

• Dardanelles or Çanakkale Boğazi , strait, c.40 mi (60 km) long and from 1 to 4 mi (1.6 to 6.4 km) wide, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and separating the Gallipoli peninsula of European Turkey from Asian Turkey...

• Delagoa Bay Mozambique: see Maputo Bay.

• Delaware Bay see Delaware , river.

• Dogger Bank extensive sandbank, c.6,800 sq mi (17,610 sq km), central North Sea, between Great Britain and Denmark. Covered by shallow water (c.55-120 ft/17-36 m deep), it is a major breeding ground for many...

• Dover, Strait of separating Great Britain from France and connecting the English Channel with the North Sea. It is 21 mi (34 km) wide between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais , and is called Pas-de-Calais by the French. It is traversed regularly by ferry, hovercraft, and, with the completion of the Channel Tunnel , by rail. The Romans called it Fretum Gallicum. The Strait of Dover has been the scene of naval battles: in the 13th cent. Hubert de Burgh defeated the invading French, and in 1588 the Spanish...

• Drake's Bay inlet of the Pacific Ocean, formed by the San Andreas fault, W Calif., NW of San Francisco. Point Reyes forms its outer arm. The bay was visited by Sir Francis Drake in 1579.

• East China Sea arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.480,000 sq mi (1,243,200 sq km), bounded on the E by the Kyushu and Ryukyu islands, on the S by Taiwan, and on the W by China. It is connected with the South China Sea...

• East Sea see Japan, Sea of.

• English Channel Fr. La Manche [the sleeve], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.350 (560 km) long, between France and Great Britain. It is 112 mi (180 km) wide at its west entrance, between Land's End, England, and Ushant, France. Its...

• Erythraean Sea name of unclear origin anciently applied to the Indian Ocean, later to the Arabian Gulf, and finally to the Red Sea.

• Eurasia land mass comprising the continents of Europe and Asia , in which Europe is geographically a western peninsula of Asia, rather than a separate continent.

• Europe 6th largest continent, c.4,000,000 sq mi (10,360,000 sq km) including adjacent islands (1992 est. pop. 512,000,000). It is actually a vast peninsula of the great Eurasian land mass. By convention,...

• Finland, Gulf of eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, c.285 mi (460 km) long and from c.10 to c.75 mi (15-120 km) wide, between Finland and Russia and Estonia. The shallow gulf receives the Narva River and water from...

• Florida, Straits of passage, c.90 mi (145 km) wide, between the Florida Keys in the north and Cuba in the south. It connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean.

• Formosa Strait see Taiwan Strait.

• Fortune Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.80 mi (130 km) long, S Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. Its shores are lined with many fishing villages. The French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are at its mouth.

• Frobisher Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, 150 mi (240 km) long and from 20 to 40 mi (32-64 km) wide, Nunavut Territory, Canada. Cutting deeply into SE Baffin Island, it has steep, deeply indented shores and...

• Fundy, Bay of large inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.170 mi (270 km) long and 30 to 50 mi (50-80 km) wide, between New Brunswick and SW Nova Scotia, Canada. It is famous for its tide and tidal bore ; in its upper arms, Chignecto Bay and the Mínas Basin, tides reach 40 to 50 ft (12-15 m) in height and create the reversing falls of the Saint John River. At low tide, wide flats are laid bare, and...

• Fury and Hecla Strait narrow channel, c.100 mi (160 km) long and from 10 to 15 mi (16-24 km) wide, N Canada, between Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula. It connects Foxe Basin with the Gulf of Boothia. It was...

• Galway Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 30 mi (48 km) long, W Republic of Ireland, in counties Galway and Clare. The Aran Islands protect its entrance. Numerous islands dot the Galway Bay, which receives...

• Gaspé Bay deep inlet of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 22 mi (35 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, E Que., Canada, at the east end of the Gaspé Peninsula. The village of Gaspé is near its head.

• Genichesk Strait see Azov, Sea of.

• Georgia, Strait of channel, c.150 mi (240 km) long, between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Canada, between Puget Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound. It forms part of the inland steamship passage...

• Gibraltar, Strait of jĬbrôl´ter , Lat. Fretum Herculeum or Fretum Gaditanum, passage, c.36 mi (58 km) long, connecting the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa. Its western limits are Cape Trafalgar (Spain) and Cape Spartel...

• Grand Banks submarine plateau rising from the continental shelf, c.36,000 sq mi (93,200 sq km), off SE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. It is c.300 mi (480 km) long and c.400 mi (640 km) wide; depths range from 20...

• Great South Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.45 mi (72 km) long, between the southern shore of Long Island and offshore barrier islands, SE N.Y. With the rapid population growth along its shores, the shallow bay...

• Guinea, Gulf of gĬn´ē , large open arm of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the great bend of the coast of W Africa. It extends from the western coast of Côte d'Ivoire to the Gabon estuary and is bounded on the south by the...

• Gulf Stream warm ocean current of the N Atlantic Ocean, off E North America. It was first described (1513) by Spanish explorer Ponce de León. The Gulf Stream originates in the Gulf of Mexico and, as the Florida Current, passes through the Straits of Florida and along the coast of SE United States with a breadth of c.50 mi (80 km). North...

• Húnaflói or Huna Bay , inlet of the Greenland Sea, c.60 mi (100 km) long and 30 mi (50 km) wide, NW Iceland, between the Vestfjarða and Skagafjarða peninsulas. It has several fishing ports.

• Hauraki Gulf large inlet of the Pacific Ocean, N North Island, New Zealand, forming the entrance to Auckland harbor. Numerous islands are found in the gulf; Great Barrier Island acts as a breakwater.

• Huanghai see Yellow Sea , China.

• Hudson Bay inland sea of North America, c.475,000 sq mi (1,230,000 sq km), c.850 mi (1,370 km) long and c.650 mi (1,050 km) wide, E central Canada. Hudson Bay and James Bay (its southern extension) and all...

• Huna Bay see Húnaflói , Iceland.

• Hwang-hai see Yellow Sea , China.

• Indian Ocean third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It constitutes...

• Ionian Sea part of the Mediterranean Sea, S Europe, between Greece and S Italy. It is connected with the Adriatic Sea by the Strait of Otranto. The Gulf of Taranto and the Gulf of Corinth are its chief arms...

• Irish Sea arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.40,000 sq mi (103,600 sq km), 130 mi (209 km) long and up to c.140 mi (230 km) wide, lying between Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected with the Atlantic by the...

• Jamaica Bay c.20 sq mi (50 sq km), SW Long Island, SE N.Y., separated from the Atlantic Ocean by Rockaway Peninsula; the Rockaway Inlet links it to the sea. The shallow bay has many islands, and its shores are...

• James Bay shallow southern arm of Hudson Bay, c.300 mi (480 km) long and 140 mi (230 km) wide, E central Canada, in Nunavut Territory between Ont. and Que. Numerous rivers flow into the bay; many of these...

• Japan Current or Kuroshio [Jap.,=black stream], warm ocean current of the Pacific Ocean, off E Asia. A northward flowing branch of the North Equatorial Current, it runs E of Taiwan and Japan; the Tsushima Current separates...

• Japan, Sea of or East Sea, enclosed arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.405,000 sq mi (1,048,950 sq km), located between Japan and the Asian mainland, connecting with the East China Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sea of Okhotsk...

• Jervis Bay territory (2001 pop. 611), 29 sq mi (75.5 sq km), SE Australia, bordering Jervis Bay, a sheltered inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 10 mi (16.1 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide. In 1915 the harbor and...

• Johore Strait arm of the Singapore Strait, c.40 mi (60 km) long and from 1 to 3 mi (1.6-4.8 km) wide, between Singapore Island and the Malay Peninsula. The eastern part of the strait has a deep channel leading...

• Juan de Fuca Strait inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 100 mi (161 km) long and 11 to 17 mi (18-27 km) wide, between Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and Washington state, linking the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound...

• Kaneohe Bay Hawaii, on the east coast of Oahu, protected by coral reefs and dotted with islands. The shores of the bay are rimmed with ancient fishponds built by the Hawaiian chiefs. A U.S. marine corps air...

• Kerch Strait shallow channel, c.25 mi (40 km) long, between Ukraine and Russia, connecting the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea and separating the Crimea in the west from the Taman peninsula in the east. Its...

• Kings Bay Spitsbergen: see Kongsfjorden.

• Kongsfjorden [Kings Bay], inlet of the Arctic Ocean, 14 mi (23 km) long, NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Ny-Ålesund is on the inlet. The scenic fjord is often visited by tourist vessels.

• Kuroshio ocean current: see Japan Current.

• La Pérouse Strait or Soya Strait , channel, 25 mi (40 km) wide, separating N Hokkaido island, Japan, from S Sakhalin island, Russia, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east....

• Ligurian Sea arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between the Ligurian coast (Italian Riviera) and the islands of Corsica and Elba; the Gulf of Genoa is its northernmost part. The sea receives the Arno River from the...

• Lion, Gulf of Fr. Golfe du Lion , arm of the Mediterranean Sea, S France, extending from the French-Spanish border to Toulon. Its coastline includes many lagoons and the Rhône delta. Marseilles is the chief...

• Magellan, Strait of c.330 mi (530 km) long and 2 1/2 to 15 mi (4-24 km) wide, separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands south of the continent. Except for a few miles at its eastern end in Argentina, it passes through Chile...

• Maine, Gulf of part of the Atlantic Ocean, between SE Maine and SW Nova Scotia, at the entrance of the Bay of Fundy. The area is noted for its scenery and fishing. Overfishing and pollution led to the enactment...

• Malacca, Strait of c.500 mi (800 km) long and from c.30 to 200 mi (50-320 km) wide, between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Linking the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, it is one of the world's most important...

• Manila Bay nearly landlocked inlet of the South China Sea, SW Luzon, the Philippines. About 35 mi (56 km) wide at its broadest point and 30 mi (48 km) long, it is the best natural harbor in E Asia and one of...

• Maputo Bay formerly Delagoa Bay , inlet of the Indian Ocean, c.55 mi (90 km) long and 20 mi (30 km) wide, S Mozambique, SE Africa; Maputo , the capital and chief port of Mozambique, is on the bay. Maputo Bay is a large deepwater harbor, with numerous quays to handle oceangoing vessels; railroads lead into the interior. The first...

• Marianas trench   Marianas trough, or Marianas deep , elongated depression on the Pacific Ocean floor, 210 mi (338 km) SW of Guam. It is the deepest (35,798.6 ft/10,911.5 m at the Challenger Deep) known depression on the earth's surface. A U.S. navy...

• Martaban, Gulf of arm of the Andaman Sea, indenting S Myanmar and receiving the waters of the Sittoung and Thanlwin (Salween) rivers. The small port of Martaban, located at the mouth of the Thanlwin across the...

• Massachusetts Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, with its arms (Boston, Cape Cod, and Plymouth bays), extends 65 mi (105 km) from Cape Ann on the north to Cape Cod on the south. Its coastline varies from the...

• Matagorda Bay inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, c.50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 12 mi (4.8-19 km) wide, SE Tex., protected by a long sandspit, Matagorda Peninsula. It receives the Colorado River and is crossed by...

• McClure Strait arm of the Beaufort Sea, c.170 mi (270 km) long and 60 mi (100 km) wide, Northwest Territories, Canada. It extends W from Viscount Melville Sound, between Melville and Eglinton islands on the north...

• Mediterranean Sea [Lat.,=in the midst of lands], the world's largest inland sea, c.965,000 sq mi (2,499,350 sq km), surrounded by Europe, Asia, and Africa.

• Menai Strait channel of the Irish Sea, 14 mi (23 km) long and from 200 yd (183 m) to 2 mi (3.2 km) wide, between the island of Anglesey and mainland Gwynedd, NW Wales. Thomas Telford's suspension bridge (1826;...

• Messina, Strait of channel, c.20 mi (32 km) long and from 2 to 10 mi (3.2-16 km) wide, separating the Italian peninsula from Sicily and connecting the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. Reggio di Calabria, SW Italy, and...

• Mexico, Gulf of arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.700,000 sq mi (1,813,000 sq km), SE North America. The Gulf stretches more than 1,100 mi (1,770 km) from west to east and c.800 mi (1,290 km) from north to south. It is...

• Mid-Atlantic Ridge see Atlantic Ocean.

• Mobile Bay arm of the Gulf of Mexico, SW Ala., from 8 to 18 mi (12.9-29 km) wide, extending c.35 mi (56 km) from the Gulf to the mouth of the Mobile River. A ship channel connects Mobile Bay with the Gulf...

• Morecambe Bay shallow inlet of the Irish Sea, 16 mi (26 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, separating Furness peninsula from the mainland, NW England. It receives the Kent and Lune rivers. Shrimp are caught...

• Moreton Bay inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 65 mi (105 km) long and 20 mi (32 km) wide, Queensland, E Australia, nearly enclosed by Moreton and Stradbroke islands. Receiving the Brisbane River, the bay is the...

• Narragansett Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, 30 mi (48 km) long and from 3 to 12 mi (4.8-19 km) wide, deeply indenting the state of Rhode Island. Its many inlets provided harbors that were advantageous to colonial...

• New York Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Hudson River, SE N.Y. and NE N.J., enclosed by the shores of NE New Jersey, E Staten Island, S Manhattan, and W Long Island (Brooklyn) and opening on...

• Nicoya, Gulf of inlet of the Pacific Ocean, Central America, between the Nicoya Peninsula and the northwest mainland of Costa Rica. The catch from the fine fishing in the gulf is canned at Puntarenas. The village...

• North America third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. North America includes all of the mainland...

• North Atlantic Drift warm ocean current in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a continuation of the Gulf Stream , the merging point being at lat. 40°N and long. 60°W. Off the British Isles it splits into two branches, one going south (the Canary Current) and the other going north along the coast of W and N...

• North Channel strait, c.75 mi (120 km) long, between Northern Ireland and Scotland, connecting the Irish Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It is 13 mi (21 km) across at its narrowest point.

• North Sea arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.222,000 sq mi (574,980 sq km), c.600 mi (1,000 km) long and c.400 mi (640 km) wide, NW of Central Europe. It washes the shores of Great Britain, Norway, Denmark,...

• Northumberland Strait arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, c.200 mi (320 km) long and from 9 to 30 mi (14.5-48 km) wide, separating Prince Edward Island from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The strait is now crossed by the Confederation...

• Norwegian Sea part of the Atlantic Ocean, NW of Norway, between the Greenland Sea and the North Sea. It is separated from the Atlantic by a submarine ridge linking Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, and from the...

• Notre Dame Bay arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.40 mi (60 km) long and 50 mi (80 km) wide, NE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. The Exploits River empties into it. The bay has an irregular shoreline and contains many...

• Pacific Ocean largest and deepest ocean, c.70,000,000 sq mi (181,300,000 sq km), occupying about one third of the earth's surface; named by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan ; the southern part is also known as the...

• Palk Strait 40 to 85 mi (64-137 km) wide, between India and Sri Lanka. It is studded with shoal reefs called Adam's Bridge and by small islands off the Jaffna peninsula. The strait's treacherous waters are...

• Passamaquoddy Bay inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between Maine and New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of it (including Campobello island) is within Canada's border. New Brunswick towns in the...

• Penobscot Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 35 mi (56 km) long and 27 mi (43 km) wide, S Maine. The bay was entered by the English explorer Martin Pring in 1603; the French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the...

• Pensacola Bay inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 13 mi (21 km) long and c.2.5 mi (4 km) wide, NW Fla.; entered through a narrow channel between Santa Rosa Island and the mainland. The Escambia River flows into the bay...

• Persian Gulf arm of the Arabian Sea, 90,000 sq mi (233,100 sq km), between the Arabian peninsula and Iran, extending c.600 mi (970 km) from the Shatt al Arab delta to the Strait of Hormuz, which links it with...

• Placentia Bay c.100 mi (160 km) long and up to 80 mi (129 km) wide, SE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. There are many fishing settlements and canneries along the shore. Placentia, established by the French in 1662,...

• Po Hai see Bohai , China.

• Port Phillip Bay large deepwater inlet of Bass Strait, 30 mi (48 km) long and 25 mi (40 km) wide, Victoria, SE Australia. Port Melbourne and Williamstown are on Hobson's Bay, its northern arm.

• Prudhoe Bay inlet of the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean, N Alaska, in the Alaska North Slope region, east of the Colville River delta. In 1968 one of the largest oil reserves in North America was discovered in...

• Red Sea ancient Sinus Arabicus or Erythraean Sea, narrow sea, c.170,000 sq mi (440,300 sq km), c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long and up to 225 mi (362 km) wide, between Africa (Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea) and the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia and...

• Riga, Gulf of eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, bordering on Estonia and on Latvia. At its mouth it is nearly closed off by the Estonian island of Saaremaa. The gulf, which is frozen from December to April,...

• Saint George's Channel strait, c.100 mi (160 km) long and 50 to 95 mi (80-153 km) wide, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. It separates SE Ireland from Wales.

• Saint Lawrence, Gulf of arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.100,000 sq mi (259,000 sq km), SE Canada, extending c.250 mi (400 km) from the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River to Newfoundland on the east. At its greatest width...

• Saint Vincent, Gulf inlet of the Indian Ocean, 90 mi (145 km) long and 45 mi (72 km) wide, SE South Australia state, Australia. Port Adelaide is on the eastern shore.

• San Francisco Bay 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8-21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. The bay is as deep as 100 ft (30 m) in spots, with a channel 50...

• San Pablo Bay see San Francisco Bay.

• Sargasso Sea part of the N Atlantic Ocean, lying roughly between the West Indies and the Azores and from about lat. 20°N to lat. 35°N, in the horse latitudes. The relatively still sea is the center of...

• Saronic Gulf arm of the Aegean Sea, indenting SE Greece and separated from the Gulf of Corinth by the Isthmus of Corinth. The Saronic Gulf is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the...

• Siam, Gulf of see Thailand, Gulf of.

• Sidra, Gulf of Arab. Khalij Surt, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Misratah and Benghazi, Libya. Tuna fishing is an important economic activity.

• Singapore Strait channel, 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, between Singapore island and the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia. It links the Strait of Malacca with the South China Sea and is a major shipping...

• South America fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. It is divided politically into 12...

• South China Sea western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. It is connected with the East China Sea by the Taiwan...

• South Seas name given by early explorers to the whole of the Pacific Ocean. In recent times the name has been used to mean only the central Pacific, the S Pacific, and the SW Pacific. More particularly it is...

• Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean, name sometimes given to those parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans that surround Antarctica S of roughly 60°S. These waters are marked by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, or West...

• Soya Strait see La Pérouse Strait , Japan-Sakhalin island.

• Spencer Gulf inlet of the Indian Ocean, 200 mi (322 km) long and 80 mi (129 km) wide, SE South Australia state, Australia, between Eyre and Yorke peninsulas. The gulf is the major outlet for iron ore from...

• Straits see Dardanelles ; Bosporus.

• Table Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, lying off Western Cape, South Africa. Table Mt. overlooks the bay, which was visited in the late 15th cent. by Portuguese voyagers to India. The shore of Table Bay was settled by the Dutch in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. The open...

• Taiwan Strait Chinese Taiwan haixia, arm of the Pacific Ocean, between China's Fujian coast and Taiwan, linking the East and South China seas. It contains the Pescadores. It is also called the Formosa Strait....

• Tampa Bay inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 25 mi (40 km) long and 7 to 12 mi (11.3-19 km) wide, W Fla., separated from the Gulf by numerous small islands; it receives the Hillsborough River. St. Petersburg is on...

• Tasman Sea arm of the S Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand; named for Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Sydney, Australia, is the largest city on the sea.

• Tatar Strait narrow body of water, c.350 mi (560 km) long and from 5 to 80 mi (8-129 km) wide, S Russian Far East, between the island of Sakhalin and the Asian mainland. It connects the Sea of Japan, in the...

• Thailand, Gulf of or Gulf of Siam, shallow arm of the South China Sea, c.500 mi (800 km) long and up to 350 mi (560 km) wide, separating the Malay Peninsula from E Thailand, Cambodia, and S Vietnam. Bangkok, the gulf's chief port,...

• Tiran, Straits of see Aqaba, Gulf of.

• Todos os Santos Bay [Port.,=all-saints bay], inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 25 mi (40 km) long and 20 mi (32 km) wide, E Bahia, Brazil. It receives the Paraguaçu River. Brazil's first oil field (1939) is located N of...

• Tonkin, Gulf of NW arm of the South China Sea, c.300 mi (480 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide, between Vietnam and China. The shallow gulf (less than 200 ft/60 m deep) receives the Red River. Haiphong, Vietnam,...

• Torres Strait channel, c.95 mi (153 km) wide, between New Guinea and Cape York Peninsula of Australia. It connects the Arafura and Coral seas. The strait is shallow, with many reefs and islands, and is...

• Trinity Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 80 mi (129 km) long, SE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada, between the Avalon Peninsula and the mainland. With its small fishing settlements and canneries, it preserves the...

• Tsugaru Strait c.100 mi (160 km) long and from 15 to 25 mi (24-40 km) wide, separating Honshu and Hokkaido, N Japan, and connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean.

• Tyrrhenian Sea Ital. Tirreno, part of the Mediterranean Sea, c.475 mi (760 km) long and from 60 to 300 mi (97-483 km) wide, between the Ligurian Sea, the Italian peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. The Strait of Messina...

• Ungava Bay inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, N Que., Canada, extending c.200 mi (320 km) S from Hudson Strait between the N Quebec mainland and the north tip of the Labrador peninsula. It is 160 mi (257 km) wide...

• Yellow Sea or Huanghai [yellow sea], arm of the Pacific Ocean, between China and Korea. It has a maximum depth of 500 ft (152 m). Bohai, Korea Bay, and the Liaodong Gulf are its major inlets. The Huang He, Huai, Liao,...

• Yenikale Strait see Kerch Strait.

• Zhili, Gulf of China: see Bohai.