![[Country map of Atlantic Ocean]](zh.gif)
Location: body of water between Africa, Antarctica, and the Western Hemisphere
Map references: World
Area:
total area: 82.217 million sq km
comparative area: slightly less than nine times the size of the US; second-largest of
the world's four oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than Indian
Ocean or Arctic Ocean)
note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark
Strait, Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian
Sea, Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Coastline: 111,866 km
International disputes: some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape 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 Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin; maximum depth is 8,605 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones
Environment:
current issues: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles,
and whales; driftnet fishing is exacerbating declining fish stocks and contributing
to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern
Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico,
Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal
sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea
natural hazards: icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern
Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south
as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; icebergs from Antarctica occur in the
extreme southern Atlantic Ocean; ships subject to superstructure icing in
extreme northern Atlantic from October to May and extreme southern Atlantic
from May to October; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to
September
international agreements: NA
Note: major choke points include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean
Digraph: ZH
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, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).
Ports: Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden)
Note: Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways
Telephone system:
international: numerous submarine cables with most between continental Europe and
the UK, North America and the UK, and in the Mediterranean; numerous direct
links across Atlantic via INTELSAT satellite network