10. What is the difference between a sea and an ocean? 



The terms "sea" and "ocean" are often used interchangeably in re- 

 ferring to salt water. However, from a geographic point of view, a sea is 

 a body of water that is substantially smaller than an ocean or is part of 

 an ocean. 



The term "seven seas" dates back to ancient times, referring to the 

 seas known to the Mohammedans before the 15th century. These were 

 the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the East African Sea, the West Afri- 

 can Sea, the China Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. 



In more recent times, Rudyard Kipling popularized the expression 

 "seven seas" by using it as the title of a volume of poems. There has been 

 a tendency to divide the world's ocean into seven oceans to retain this 

 legendary number. The popular division is Arctic, North Atlantic, South 

 Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic. However, 

 International Hydrographic Bureau at Monaco does not accept the exist- 

 ence of an Antarctic Ocean. Actually, of course, all limits of oceans are 

 arbitrary, as there is only one global sea. The International Hydrographic 

 Bureau subdivisions are primarily for the purpose of filing Notices to 

 Mariners and have little to do with natural boundaries. 



The International Hydrographic Bureau lists 54 seas; some are seas 

 within seas. The Mediterranean Sea contains seven seas so one could 

 sail the seven seas (of the Mediterranean) without ever venturing into 

 an ocean. 



Freuchen, Peter 



Peter Freuchen's Book of the Seven Seas, Julian Messner, 1957. 

 International Hydrographic Bureau 



Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication No. 23, Monaco, 1953. 

 Pell, Claiborne (Senator) 



Challenge of the Seven Seas, William Morrow and Company, 1966. 



10 



