World Factbook
ZH
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
note
note: includes Baffin Bay, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Gulf of America, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies
total
85.133 million sq km
Climate
tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cabo Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December but are most frequent from August to November
Location
body of water between Africa, Europe, the Arctic Ocean, the Americas, and the Southern Ocean
Coastline
111,866 km
Elevation
mean depth
-3,646 m
ocean zones
the ocean is divided into three zones based on depth and light level; sunlight entering the water may travel about 1,000 m into the oceans under the right conditions, but there is rarely any significant light below 200 m euphotic zone : the upper 200 m (656 ft) is also called "sunlight" zone; only a small amount of light penetrates beyond this depth dysphotic zone : between 200 m (656 ft) and 1,000 m (3,280 ft), and also called the twilight zone; the intensity of light rapidly dissipates as depth increases, and photosynthesis is no longer possible aphotic zone : below 1,000 m (3,280 ft) and also called the midnight zone; sunlight does not penetrate to these depths
lowest point
Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
highest point
sea level
Bathymetry
atolls
Rocas Atoll (Brazil) is the only atoll in the South Atlantic
abyssal plains
the following are examples of features on the abyssal plains of the Atlantic Ocean: Angola Basin (Figure 3) Agulhas Basin (Figure 3) Argentine Basin (Figure 3) Brazil Basin (Figure 3) Canary Basin (Figure 2) Cape Basin (Figure 3) Colombia Basin (Figure 2) Labrador Basin (Figure 2) Mexico Basin (Figure 2) Newfoundland Basin (Figure 2) North American Basin (Figure 2) Venezuela Basin (Figure 2) West European Basin (Figure 2)
ocean trenches
the following are examples of ocean trenches on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: Cayman Trench (Caribbean Sea) (Figure 2) Hellenic Trench (Mediterranean Sea) (Figure 4) Puerto Rico Trench (Figure 2) - deepest point in the Atlantic South Sandwich Trench (South Atlantic) (Figure 3)
mid-ocean ridge
the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone displaces the mid-ocean ridge 350 km to the west, separating the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from the Reykjanes Ridge; the Romanche Fracture Zone, located near the equator, offsets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 900 km and is considered the dividing line between the North and South Atlantic Oceans the following are examples of mid-ocean ridges on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: East Mediterranean Ridge (Figure 4) Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Figures 2, 3) Reykjanes Ridge (Figure 2)
continental shelf
the passive margins of the Atlantic Ocean provide for wide continental shelves in North America, Northwest Europe, and the southern coast of South America the following are examples of features on the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean: Blake Plateau (Figure 5) Celtic Shelf (Figure 2) Dogger Bank (Figure 2) Flemish Cap (Figure 2) Falkland Plateau (Figure 3) Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Figure 2) Great Bahama Bank (Figure 5) Little Bahama Bank (Figure 5) Tunisian Plateau (Figure 4) Yucatán Shelf (Figure 5)
continental slope
the following are examples of features on the continental slope of the Atlantic Ocean: Amazon Cone (Figure 3) Congo Fan (Figure 3) Hudson Canyon (Figure 5) Mississippi Fan (Figure 5)
undersea terrain features
the following are examples of undersea terrain features on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: Bermuda Rise (Figure 2) Cape Verde Plateau (Figure 2) New England Seamounts (Figure 2) Rio Grande Plateau (Figure 3) Rockall Plateau (Figure 2)
Ocean volume
ocean volume
310,410,900 cu km
percent of World Ocean total volume
23.3%
Map references
Map of the world oceans
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; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December)
Geography - note
major chokepoints 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
Natural resources
oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones
Area - comparative
about 7.5 times the size of the US
Major ocean currents
clockwise North Atlantic Gyre consists of the northward flowing, warm Gulf Stream in the west, the eastward flowing North Atlantic Current in the north, the southward flowing cold Canary Current in the east, and the westward flowing North Equatorial Current in the south; the counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre composed of the southward flowing warm Brazil Current in the west, the eastward flowing South Atlantic Current in the south, the northward flowing cold Benguela Current in the east, and the westward flowing South Equatorial Current in the north
Geographic coordinates
0 00 N, 25 00 W