Names of the seas in alphabetical order. How many seas are there in the world? Let's find out the details

We all know from school that there are four “colored” seas on our planet: White, Black, Red and Yellow.
Many people even remember why they are named that way (see under the cut).
It would seem that that’s it, the question is settled. But... Nothing like that!
I will try to prove, using history, toponymy and etymology,
that there are at least six more (!) “colored seas”.

1. White Sea.
The inland sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean basin in the north of European Russia.
Some researchers suggest that the sea is called White because it
covered with ice and snow 6-7 months a year.
Others believe the name comes from the whitish color of the water, reflecting the northern sky.
And indeed, at any time of the year it remains white: sometimes snow, sometimes rain, sometimes fog.

2. Black Sea .
Inland sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean basin.
Washes the shores of Russia, Ukraine, Romania,
Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia.
From the point of view of sailors, the sea is called Black because of strong storms,
during which the water in the sea darkens.
They also claim that the sea was called Black because of the black silt,
which remains on the shore after a storm.
One of the hypotheses is related to the “color” designation previously adopted in a number of Asian countries
cardinal directions, where “black” meant the north, respectively, the Black Sea - the northern sea.
In the “Geography” of the ancient Greek scientist Strabo (1st century BC) it is assumed
that the sea received its name due to difficulties with navigation,
as well as the wild hostile tribes that inhabited its shores.
However, most likely, the Greeks adopted the local Scythian name for the sea,
representing the reflex of ancient Iran. axšaina - “dark blue”, “dark”.
According to another historical hypothesis, the modern name of the Black Sea was given by the Turks,
who tried to conquer the population of its shores, but were met with such furious
resistance that the sea was nicknamed Karaden-giz - Black, inhospitable.
But hydrologists offered their version, according to which
the sea is called Black because any metal objects,
sunk to great depths, they rise to the surface blackened.
The reason is hydrogen sulfide, which is saturated in the Black Sea water at a depth of more than 200 m.

3. Red Sea.
Inland sea of ​​the Indian Ocean basin,
located between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
Washes the shores of Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Jordan.
It is the saltiest sea in the World Ocean.
There are several versions of the origin of the name of the Red Sea.
1) From the incorrect reading of a Semitic word consisting of three letters: “x”, “m” and “r”. From these letters in ancient inscriptions the name of the Semitic people of the Himyarites, who lived in Southern Arabia before its conquest by the Arabs, was composed. In ancient South Arabian writing, short vowel sounds were not represented graphically in writing. Therefore, there was an assumption that when the Arabs deciphered the South Arabian inscriptions, the combination of “x”, “m” and “r” was read as the Arabic “ahmar” (red).
2) Another version makes the name of the sea dependent on one or another part of the world. In the myths of many peoples of the world, the cardinal directions are associated with certain color shades.
So, red symbolizes the south . And therefore the word “red” apparently indicates the southern location of this sea, and not at all the color of the sea water. Although beautiful reddish algae float to its surface from time to time.

4. Yellow Sea.
Semi-enclosed marginal sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean basin
off the east coast of Asia west of the Korean Peninsula.
It washes the shores of China, North Korea and the Republic of Korea.
The name comes from the color of the water caused by sediment from Chinese rivers and dust storms.
In spring, yellow dust storms here can be so strong that
that ships have to stop moving.

5. Timor Sea.
It is located in the Indian Ocean between Australia and the island of Timor.
It washes the coasts of Australia, East Timor and Indonesia.
Mar Timor(Portuguese) - “orange sea”.
The name is due to the fact that most of it is occupied by a continental shelf with numerous reddish-orange banks (shoals), atolls and reefs.
This color scheme has evolved here over many millennia.
due to the presence of red clay and quartz sand at the bottom.

6. Coral sea.
Located in the Pacific Ocean.
It washes the coasts of Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia.
It contains numerous coral reefs and islands
(hence the name “Coral”).
One of the most famous is the Great Barrier Reef,
largest coral reef in the world.
Corals of almost all shades of the spectrum allow
this sea is also classified as a “colored sea.”

7. Sargasso Sea.
This is an area of ​​​​the anticyclonic water cycle in the Atlantic Ocean,
limited by the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic,
Canary and North Passat currents.
Area 6-7 million square meters. km depending on current dynamics
(the largest sea in the World Ocean).
It is located at a considerable distance from the coast.
(In the northwestern part - Bermuda).
The color of the sea surface is usually greenish-brown, which is associated
with large clusters
floating brown algae Sargassum(about 11 million tons).
Sargassums are attached to the bottom by their root part.
And when torn off, they form so-called thalli,
which swim freely throughout the vast water area.

8. Sea of ​​Marmara.
Inland sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean basin,
located between the European and Asian parts of Turkey.
In the northeast it is connected by the Bosphorus Strait to the Black Sea,
in the southwest - the Dardanelles Strait with the Aegean Sea.
In Turkish - Marmara Denizi , from the name of the island Marmara,
where large-scale developments of white marble were carried out.

9. Sea of ​​Flores.

between the southern tip of the island of Sulawesi in the north
and the islands of Kabia, Sumbawa and Flores in southern Indonesia.
In 1544 the eastern edge of the present island of Flores
first noticed a Portuguese merchant ship,
whose captain named him "Cabo des Flores"— Cape of Flowers.
The diverse and beautiful flora of the islands subsequently gave
the name of this sea itself.
And besides, the most famous volcano on Flores island is Kelimutu (height 1639 m)
has three crater lakes that change color from time to time.
And it is not yet fully understood what exactly leads to this change.

10. Solomon Sea.
Interisland Sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean basin,
located between the Solomon Islands, New Britain and New Guinea.
The Solomon Islands were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator A. Mendaña de Neira
who bartered gold from the locals and named these islands Solomon,
comparing them to the “Golden Country of King Solomon.”
There are still large deposits of lead, zinc, nickel and gold here.
The sea itself has numerous coral reefs
and surface water temperature 27-29 °C.

How many seas are there in the world? This question always arouses keen interest among schoolchildren. The world ocean is considered to be the shell of water that surrounds the mainland, as well as the islands. Some water areas separated by land or elevated underwater terrain are conventionally called seas. It is not easy to say exactly how many seas there are in the world, since there are many different classifications. The total number of water bodies may vary: for example, the Aral, Dead, Caspian and Galilee seas are usually called seas, although in fact they should be classified as “Lakes”. There are also a number of bays that would be more logical to be classified as seas.

The Atlantic includes the Baltic, North, Sargasso, Marmara, Ionian, Aegean, Adriatic and many other seas. There are about thirty of them in total.

The Indian Ocean includes only six of them, the Red Ocean.

Subdues the thirteen seas. Among them are Beloe, Barents, Chukotka, Kara, East Siberian.

Not all scientists recognize the South as an ocean. However, it contains areas of water that surround Antarctica.

To tell how many seas there are in the world, you can use the latest data from the International Geographical Bureau. Today there are fifty-four of them. Inland seas and bays were not taken into account.

Mediterranean

Leading scientists and international environmental organizations believe that the world today is Mediterranean. The UN also made this conclusion at its recent annual report. Every year, about five thousand tons of petroleum products enter Mediterranean waters for various reasons. Of particular danger to flora and fauna are the numerous plastic wastes that litter coastal areas.

Baltic

The sad glory of the Mediterranean water element is also shared by the Black and Baltic seas. The most problematic area is considered to be the Baltic Gulf of Finland, which is filled with spilled oil products. Due to the fact that the Baltic Sea is surrounded on all sides by economically developed countries (Sweden, Norway), they discharge a significant amount of industrial waste into its waters. Multi-ton waste from the industrial activities of European countries also flows into the Black Sea waters through the flowing rivers.

Marble

The most dangerous sea in the world is Marmara. It is also the smallest. It serves as the border between Europe and Asia and is a connecting link between the Black and Aegean Seas. Many centuries ago, a fault formed in the earth's crust, which was subsequently filled with water. Thus arose the depth of which in some places reaches more than one thousand three hundred meters.

Numerous natural disasters pose a danger in this area of ​​water: tsunamis and earthquakes. Over the entire known history of the sea, its waters shook about three hundred times.

In the classification of the world's water bodies, there is also an approach in which the seas are divided into categories according to the degree of salinity of the water. The world's oceans are filled with various salts that entered it from previously eroded rocks. The total content of solids dissolved in one kilogram of water is commonly called salinity. Its level is expressed in ppm (tenths of a percent).

Red

Mira - Dead and Red. One liter of Red Sea water contains forty grams of salt. Thanks to the constant mixing of water layers among themselves, the Red Sea has the same temperature and salinity level in any part of it.

At the end of the last century, researchers discovered over two dozen depressions containing hot “brines.” The average temperature there is forty degrees. This water is very beneficial for health.

Dead

The Dead Sea is famous for the unique composition of its water and healing mud. A high degree of salinity creates a high density of liquid.

What are the names of the seas of our planet and where are they located:

Below is a complete description of the seas with the name and table of the largest seas by area and depth.

All about the seas of our planet:

According to the degree of isolation and characteristics of the hydrological regime, the seas are divided into 3 groups: internal seas (Mediterranean seas and semi-enclosed seas), marginal seas and interisland seas. Based on their geographical location, the Mediterranean seas are sometimes divided into intercontinental seas and inland seas.

From a geological point of view, modern seas are young formations. In outlines close to modern ones, they were all determined in the Paleogene-Neogene time, and finally took shape in the Anthropocene. The deepest seas (for example, the Mediterranean Sea) are formed in places of large faults in the earth's crust, and shallow seas arose when the marginal parts of continents were flooded by the waters of the World Ocean and are usually located on continental shallows

Classification by ocean

The division of the World Ocean into separate oceans was carried out by the International Hydrological Organization (IHO) in 1953 (with subsequent changes)

There are 63 seas in the world (not counting the Caspian, Aral, as well as the Dead and Galilee seas) - of which 25 are in the Pacific, 16 in the Atlantic, 11 in the Indian and 11 in the Arctic Ocean. Traditionally, due to their large size, seas include the Caspian and Aral seas-lake, which are the remnants of the ancient Tethys ocean. In addition, the names of the Dead Sea and the Sea of ​​Galilee have historically developed.

There are different classifications of seas.

Seas included in the oceans (seas across oceans)

Pacific Ocean

· Sea of ​​Aki

· Sea Bali

· Sea Banda

· Bering Sea

· Visayan Sea

· Inland Sea of ​​Japan

· East China Sea

· Yellow Sea

· Camotes Sea

· Coral sea

· Koro Sea

New Guinea Sea

Mindanao Sea

· Molucca Sea

Sea of ​​Okhotsk

· Sea of ​​Savu

Sea Samar

Sea Seram

· Sibuyan Sea

· Solomon Sea

· Sulawesi Sea

· Sulu Sea

· Tasman Sea

Sea of ​​Tuvalu

· Fiji Sea

· Philippine Sea (the largest and deepest sea on Earth)

Sea Flores

· Halmahera Sea

· South China Sea

Java Sea

· Japanese Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Sea of ​​Azov

· Baltic Sea

Sea of ​​Hebrides

· Irish sea

· Caribbean Sea

· Celtic Sea

· Irminger Sea

Sea Labrador

Sea of ​​Marmara

· Sargasso Sea

· North Sea

· Wadden Sea

· Mediterranean Sea

Adriatic Sea

· Alboran

Balearic Sea

· Ionian Sea

· Cyprus Sea

· Cilician Sea

Levantine Sea

Ligurian Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

· Aegean Sea

· Icarian Sea

· Cretan Sea

Myrtois Sea

· Thracian Sea

· Black Sea

Indian Ocean

· Andaman Sea

· Arabian Sea

Arafura Sea

· Red sea

· Laccadive Sea

Timor Sea

Arctic Ocean

Boundary of the White and Barents Seas

· Barencevo sea

Pechora Sea

· Baffin Sea

· White Sea

· Beaufort Sea

· Vandel Sea

· East-Siberian Sea

· Greenland Sea

· Prince Gustav Adolf Sea

· Sea of ​​Crown Prince Gustav

· Kara Sea

· Laptev sea

· Lincoln Sea

Norwegian Sea

Chukchi Sea

South ocean

Island in the Ross Sea

· Amundsen Sea

· Ross Sea

· Weddell Sea

· Sea of ​​Scotia

· Lazarev Sea

· Davis Sea

· Bellingshausen Sea

· Mawson Sea

Rieser-Larsen Sea

· Commonwealth Sea

· Sea of ​​Cosmonauts

· Somov Sea

Sea of ​​D'Urville

Bays, according to hydrological, hydrochemical and other characteristics, related to the seas

Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean)

· Hudson Bay (Arctic Ocean)

Gulf of Mexico (Atlantic Ocean)

· Persian Gulf (Indian Ocean)

Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean)

Classification by degree of isolation from the ocean

Seas are distinguished according to the degree of isolation internal, peripheral, intercontinental and interisland.

Inland seas- seas, mostly closed from communication with the ocean, which have limited (compared to marginal seas) water exchange with the World Ocean. In such seas, the depth of the strait connecting them to the ocean is small, which limits deep-sea currents that lead to the mixing of deep waters. Examples of such seas are the Mediterranean and Baltic seas.

Depending on the number of continents whose seashores wash, inland seas are divided into intercontinental(Mediterranean and Red Seas) and inland(Yellow and Black Seas).

Depending on the connection with other seas or the World Ocean, inland seas are divided into isolated(closed) (Dead Sea, Aral Sea) and semi-insulated(semi-closed) (Baltic, Azov seas). In fact, isolated seas are lakes.

marginal seas- these are seas that are characterized by free communication with the ocean and, in some cases, separated from them by a chain of islands or peninsulas. Although the marginal seas lie on the shelf, the nature of bottom sediments, climatic and hydrological regimes, the fauna and flora of these seas are strongly influenced not only by the continent, but also by the ocean. Marginal seas are characterized by ocean currents that arise due to oceanic winds. Seas of this type include, for example, the Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese, East China, South China, and Caribbean seas.

Intercontinental seas(sometimes called Mediterranean seas) are seas that are surrounded on all sides by land and connected to the ocean by one or more straits. These seas include the Mediterranean, Red, and Caribbean.

Interisland seas- seas surrounded by a more or less dense ring of islands, the rise of the relief between which prevents the free exchange of water between these seas and the open part of the ocean.

Most of the interisland seas are found among the islands of the Malay Archipelago. The largest of them: Javanese, Banda, Sulawesi.

Classification by surface water temperature

There is also a classification of seas depending on the temperature of their surface waters (tropical seas, temperate zone seas, polar seas), but it is practically not used.

Classification by water salinity

According to the degree of salinity they distinguish highly salted And lightly salted seas.

Highly salty seas- seas that have a higher salinity than the ocean due to active evaporation, and their water exchange consists of the outflow of saltier sea water into the lower layers, and the influx of fresher water into the surface layers through straits from the ocean. An example of such a sea is the Red Sea.

Lightly salted seas- seas that have less salinity than the ocean due to the fact that the influx of fresh water with river runoff and precipitation is not compensated by evaporation. In this case, water exchange consists of the outflow of less saline sea water into the surface layers and the influx of more saline water into the bottom layers through the straits. In such basins, water exchange with the bottom layers is often insufficient to maintain the oxygen content necessary for the existence of most biological species. An example of such a sea is the Black Sea.

Classification by coastline ruggedness

Distinguish strongly rugged and weakly rugged coastline. It should be noted that, for example, the Sargasso Sea has no coastline at all.

Coastline

The coastline of the seas is characterized by the presence of bays, lagoons, coves, estuaries of flowing rivers, peninsulas, spits, estuaries, beaches or cliffs and other forms of relief.

Bay- this is a part of the sea that extends deeply into the land, but has free water exchange with the main part of the sea. The hydrological and hydrochemical conditions of the bay are identical to the conditions of the sea of ​​which they are part. In some cases, local climate features and continental runoff can give the hydrological characteristics of the surface layer of bays some specific features.

Depending on the coastal topography and other geographical conditions, bays are divided into several types:

· Bay- a small part of the sea, separated from open waters on three sides by parts of land (shore protrusions, rocks and nearby islands) and protected by them from waves and wind. Most small bays are formed in soft rocky soils or clays washed out by waves. Examples of bays are Sevastopol and Balaklava bays in the Black Sea, Zolotoy Rog Bay in the Sea of ​​Japan. A small bay can be part of a larger bay, such as the Yuzhnaya Bay as part of the Sevastopol Bay.

· Liman- a bay delimited from the sea by a sand spit (bar). More often, an estuary is a flooded part of the section of a river valley closest to the sea (for example, the Dnieper and Dniester estuaries on the Black Sea coast). Distinguish open estuaries(estuarine type) - having constant water exchange with the sea, and closed type(lagoon type) - separated from the sea by a sand spit or bar. The hydrological regime of the estuary is largely influenced by the river that flows into it.

· Lagoon- a shallow part of the sea, separated from it by a bar, spit, or coral reef and often connected to it by a narrow strait. Lagoons differ from other bays in their greater degree of isolation from the sea. Often found inside the atoll (for example, Kiritimati, Kwajalein atolls).

· Estuary- a single-arm, funnel-shaped mouth of a river that flows into the sea. An estuary is formed when the sea floods the mouth of a river, and tidal forces carry sediment out to sea and prevent the estuary from filling up and turning into a delta. This happens when the part of the sea adjacent to the estuary has great depth. The estuary is formed by rivers such as the Amazon (Atlantic Ocean) and Thames (North Sea).

· Fjord- a long, narrow sea bay, often extending far inland. The fjord is formed as a result of the flooding of the former glacier valley by the sea. Many fjords are very deep - they were formed when glaciers crushed valleys with their weight, and then the valleys were flooded by the sea. Typically, the length of a fjord is several times greater than its width. Examples of typical fjords are the fjords of the Norwegian Sea.

· Lip- a common name in northern Russia for a bay that cuts deeply into the land (for example, Nevskaya in the Gulf of Finland, Ob in the Kara Sea).

Strait- a relatively narrow strip of water separating land areas and connecting adjacent water basins or parts thereof (for example, the English Channel, Magellan, Bering Straits).

Island- a piece of land (often of natural origin), surrounded on all sides by water and constantly rising above the water even during the highest tide (for example, Greenland, Madagascar). They differ from continents in their small size, for example Greenland is three times smaller than the smallest continent of Australia ( islands-mainland). They vary in origin, shape and type (for example, coral island).

· Atoll- is a rise on the ocean floor, usually conical in shape, formed by an extinct volcano, crowned with a coral superstructure that forms a reef with a group of islets (motu), separated by straits that connect the ocean with the lagoon. If there are no straits, then the land is closed in a continuous ring, and the water in the lagoon may differ in composition from the surrounding ocean.

· Archipelago- a group of closely located islands having a similar geological structure.

· Skerries- (from Nor. sker - rock in the sea) - an archipelago consisting of small rocky islands, separated by narrow straits and covering a significant part of the coastal sea strip, bordering fjord-type shores. Each of these islands is individually called " skerry" As a rule, skerries are suitable for navigation, but the passage of ships in them requires certain skills and is fraught with many dangers. During the Great Patriotic War, torpedo boats of the Baltic Fleet successfully fought against the invaders, using skerries for cover.

· artificial island- a separate group of islands created by man (for example, Kansai Airport in the middle of Osaka Bay in Japan and the elite Palm Jumeirah beach, created off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates).

Scythe- a low alluvial strip of land on the shore of a sea or lake, connected at one end to the shore. It is formed as a result of the movement of debris along the coast by waves. It is composed of sediment (sediment) of bulk materials moved by currents: sand, pebbles, gravel, shells. The spit, formed as a result of the simultaneous entry of sediment from both sides, protrudes into the open sea almost perpendicular to the shore and is called arrow. Can be created artificially.

Cape- a piece of land that cuts into the sea. Can be formed by either sediment or sediment. Capes, as a rule, owe their existence to erosion processes. A prerequisite for the appearance of a cape is the presence of both soft and hard rocks on the coastline. Soft rocks, such as sand, are destroyed by waves much faster than hard rocks. As a result, a cape is formed (for example, Horn, Good Hope).

Peninsula- a part of the continent that protrudes far into the sea and is washed on three sides by water and is often geologically integral with the mainland (for example, the Iberian Peninsula or the Scandinavian Peninsula).

Mainland- a large area of ​​land, often washed on all sides by seas or oceans (for example, Eurasia is separated from Africa by the Suez Canal, and the two Americas are separated by the Panama Canal).

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All the water in the world is called the World Ocean. The sea is a part of the world's oceans, a huge salty body of water, which is separated by land or conventionally elevated underwater terrain. Each sea has a different climatic and hydrological regime and has its own flora and fauna.

Classification of seas

Modern science uses several classifications of seas:

• By isolation. There are intercontinental and interisland, marginal and inland seas,
• According to temperature conditions. There are polar, temperate and tropical
• According to water salinity. The seas are divided into slightly and highly salted,
• Along the rugged coastline. There are weakly and strongly indented coastlines. This classification is very conditional, since some seas have no coastline at all, for example, Sargasso,
• Oceanic. There are 4 oceans in the world - the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic (although recently many geographers have separately identified South ocean). Each sea is conventionally classified as a basin of one of the oceans.

How many seas are there in the world?

So, how many seas are there in the world? It is not easy to answer this question, since science has identified several classifications. Besides Caspian, Aral, Galilean, Dead Many people know them as seas, but they are actually classified as lakes. There are also some bays that would be more logical to be classified as seas. Small seas, which are part of large ones, are also often not taken into account. For example, Mediterranean Sea consists of 7 inland reservoirs, you can sail on a ship from one reservoir to another without obstacles, but at the same time remain on the territory of the Mediterranean Sea.

In total, there are 94 seas on Earth. Of them

• Atlantic Ocean belongs to 32 seas, for example, Marmara, North, Aegean, Baltic.
• Pacific Ocean– 30 seas, such as the Yellow, Bering, Japanese, Okhotsk
• Arctic Ocean basins belongs to 13 seas, such as Kara, Barents, White, Chukotka
• South ocean also has 13 seas, for example, Cosmonauts, Ross, Lazarev. The Indian Ocean has 6 seas, among which the Red Sea is considered the largest.
• Indian Ocean— 6 seas, among them the Red Sea is considered the largest.

Important! Today, the International Geographical Society has decided to distinguish 54 seas, without taking into account bays and inland seas.

The Mediterranean Sea is considered the dirtiest, as at least 500 tons of various petroleum products enter it annually. Moreover, a great danger to the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean Sea is posed by plastic waste that has literally filled the coastal areas.

The most dangerous sea is considered to be the Sea of ​​Marmara, which is located on the border of Asia and Europe and serves as a connection between the Aegean and Black Seas. The Sea of ​​Marmara was formed by a fault that was subsequently filled with water; it is sometimes more than 1,300 meters deep. Danger comes from frequent earthquakes and tsunamis. It is believed that this sea has been disturbed by earthquakes at least 300 times.

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