About Atlantic Ocean
The
Atlantic Ocean is the world's second largest ocean, following
the Pacific Ocean. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square
kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi), 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 (English: Sea
of Atlas). The term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was
applied to the southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century.
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; while geographically
part of the North Atlantic, its character is very different to
the waters to the north between North America and Europe.
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