The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest water body of the world which is about 25% of the total 70% of earth’s surface that is covered with water.

Fact 1 Location Of The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is divided into the North and South Atlantic Ocean and is located between America on the west and Europe and Africa on the east.

Fact 2 How It Got The Name “Atlantic”
The word Atlantic owes its origin to Greek mythology which means “Sea of Atlas”. Some are of the opinion that the Greek word Atlantico meant large area of water and is associated with the people and land along its border mostly Europe in those days. Initially the northern part of the ocean was known as Atlantic for many centuries and the South Atlantic was called the Ethiopian Sea till the middle of 1800.

Fact 3 Depth And Width Of The Atlantic Ocean
The average depth of the ocean is 3,339 meters and the greatest depth is in Puerto Rico which is 8,605 meters. There is an underwater ridge that divides it into two major basins. The greatest width of the Atlantic Ocean is between Brazil and Sierra Leone. It is 2,848 km or 1770 miles wide.

Fact 4 Temperature Of The Atlantic Ocean
Since the ocean spreads across a huge area, the temperature varies according to the location and the ocean currents. The waters near the equator are warmer and those near the coastal regions are about 28 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature of the water is the lowest in the polar regions.

Fact 5 Major Seaports Of The Atlantic Ocean
There are many seaports along this large ocean. The major seaports are Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Hamburg in Germany; New York in the U.S.A.; Buenos Aires in Argentina and Colon in Panama which is the largest in Latin America.

Fact 6 The Famous Cities On The Atlantic Ocean
Some of the big cities are namely Miami in the U.S.A.; Cape Town in South Africa; Sao Paola in Brazil; Lagos in Nigeria; London in UK, Casablanca in Morocco; Lisbon in Portugal and Reykjavik in Iceland.

Fact 7 The Trenches Of The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean consists of 4 deep trenches that plunge into the flat floor of the ocean which is more than 28,000 feet. They are the:
1. The Puerto Rico Trench which is 500 miles long and 28,232 ft deep.
2. The Laurentian Abyss that is 19,685 feet deep
3. The South Sandwich Trench is 599 miles long and 27,651 ft deep.
4 The Romanche Trench is 300 miles wide and 24,455 ft deep.

Fact 8 Islands On The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean consists of numerous islands that include Greenland, Newfoundland, Iceland and Ireland and other groups of islands and archipelagos which are Madeira, The Canaries, The Azores, Cape Verde, Ascension, Svalbard, St. Helena and Tristan de Cunha located 2000 miles off the South African coast.

Fact 9 Countries Bordered By The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean borders 91 countries in all. Among them 12 in North and Central America, 27 in the Caribbean, 10 in South America, 27 in Africa and 16 in Europe.

Fact 10 Seas, Gulfs And Bays Fed By The Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean borders about 24 seas, large bays and gulfs. Among them the important ones are Arctic Sea, Baltic Sea, Bay of Fundy, Bay of Biscay, Black Sea, Barents Sea, Caribbean Sea, Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel, Davis Straits, Gibraltar Strait, Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico and many others.

Fact 11 Natural Resources
The Atlantic Ocean offers richest natural resources of fish, marine mammals like seals and whales, petroleum deposits as well as natural gas field.