{"id":500,"date":"2016-04-07T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/?page_id=500"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T13:10:40","slug":"bodies-of-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/bodies-of-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Bodies of Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"Content\" align=\"center\" class=\"Body\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-style: italic;\">The geography of earth includes many bodies of water  from streams, rivers and lakes to channels, seas and oceans with many of these  terms overlapping in their definitions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Bodies-of-Water\">Bodies of Water<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Streams\">Streams<\/a><\/span><a href=\"#Streams\"> <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Rivers\">Rivers<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Watersheds-and-Drainage-basin\">Watersheds and Drainage  basin<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Ponds\">Ponds<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Lakes\">Lakes<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Lochs\">Lochs<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Is-The-Caspian-Sea-a-Lake\">Is The Caspian Sea a Lake?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal style1 style3\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Lagoons\">Lagoons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Water-Bodies-Interactive-Data-Map\">Water Bodies Interactive  Data Map<\/a><\/span><a href=\"#WaterBodiesInteractiveDataMap\"> <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Seas\">Seas<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal style7\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Oceans\">Oceans<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Bodies-of-Water\" id=\"Bodies-of-Water\"><\/a>Bodies of Water<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The geography of earth includes many bodies of water  from streams, rivers and lakes to channels, seas and oceans with many of these  terms overlapping in their definitions. Throughout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/history-contents\/\" title=\"History Contents\">human history<\/a> all major  civilisations built their cities near to large fresh water bodies, normally  rivers, the most important natural resource for life. Sea or Oceans have also  proved valuable to the economic growth of most civilisations and today they  carry 90%of the world&rsquo;s trade in huge ships (the exception to this was the  &lsquo;Silk Road&rsquo;, a land based trade route set up to by various Chinese Dynasties to  sell their goods). It was England&rsquo;s and later Great Britain&rsquo;s trade routes and  Navy that allowed them to produce the largest Empire ever seen, an empire that  covered a quarter of the globe and on which the sun never set. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Streams\" id=\"Streams\"><\/a>Streams<\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"194\" height=\"194\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Stream Public Domain.png\" align=\"left\" hspace=\"12\" alt=\"Bodies of Water Stream Public Domain\" style=\"margin:0px 20px\"\/><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The smallest body of water can be termed  as a stream which describes a flowing channel of water that usually leads to a  larger body of water. <em>(This is not  strictly true as it is also used to describe a warmer and faster moving body of  water within other water bodies such as the gulfstream but this is not a common  usage of the term stream).<\/em> The term stream itself encompasses several other  terms for moving bodies of water such as brook or creek. They are generally  fresh water and are fed from many sources such as springs, ice melt, and even  rain. They run from high to low ground being propelled by gravity but are too  small to be noticeably affected by tidal forces. As their source can be  intermittent so the streams may only exist intermittently but when more snow  melts or rainfalls the water generally follows the same path as previous water  flows have already made small channels for the stream to follow. Streams may  feed many larger bodies of water including other streams that grow into rivers  at a point known as a &lsquo;tributary&rsquo; or &lsquo;affluent&rsquo;. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Rivers\" id=\"Rivers\"><\/a>Rivers<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"194\" height=\"194\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/River Public Domain.png\" align=\"left\" hspace=\"12\" alt=\"Bodies of Water River Public Domain\" style=\"margin:0px 20px\"\/><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Rivers  are much larger channels of flowing water that also flow from high to low  ground and eventually they feed the sea. The point when a river flows into the  sea is known as an estuary. Rivers can become considerably large and powerful.  They carve out the landscape in a much more dramatic way then a stream and can  create valleys and canyons. A very large and powerful river is believed to be  the main contributor to the formation of the Grand Canyon millions of years  ago. Rivers carve their way through the land by erosion. Rivers evolve over  time feeding larger rivers at a point known a &lsquo;tributary&rsquo; or &lsquo;affluent&rsquo; (as  with stream feeding rivers of other streams) as well as lakes and the sea. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">No  formal size classification has been made to differentiate between rivers and  streams but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/exploring-the-worlds-largest-rivers\/\" title=\"Exploring the World's Largest Rivers\">shortest river<\/a> is believed to be the roe river in the US (at  200m or 61ft long and 1.2m or 8ft deep) but the D River also in the US is the  smallest by water volume. The size of the Driver changes throughout the year  but at its height it is a maximum of 3.6m or 30 ft wide, 36cm of 3ft deep and  130m or 440ft in length. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The  longest river in the world is generally considered to be the River Nile  stretching 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long (this length is based on a survey  carried out in 2007 which increased the previous estimates by 200km (125 miles)  and is based on the furthest possible distance from source to outlet). The Nile  travels through eleven countries running from Tanzania in South-East Africa  heading north to Egypt and out to the Mediterranean Sea. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The  Amazon River in South America runs through seven countries and stretches at  least 6,400 kilometres (4,000 miles) and is the largest drainage system in the  world based on volume of water. Additionally the length of the Amazon was based  on its source being Carruhasanta creek to the sea but the actual source is  disputed and the Amazon River flows out to sea at three main points. The same  team that recalculated the length of the Nile also conducted a survey of the  Amazon in 2007. They suggested that the source was from Apacheta creek running  to the southern channel and estuary (the mouth of Maraj&oacute; Bay). This put the  longest possible length of the Amazon at 4,345 miles (6,992 km) which would  make the length of the Amazon River longer by 145km (90 miles) and makes the  Amazon the longest and largest river in the world (source:<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/EBchecked\/topic\/18722\/Amazon-River\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/EBchecked\/topic\/18722\/Amazon-River<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> )<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Watersheds-and-Drainage-basin\" id=\"Watersheds-and-Drainage-basin\"><\/a>Watersheds and Drainage  basin<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Streams  normally form at the peaks of mountains, sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/ice-cap-ef-extremely-cold-year-round-with-no-vegetation-ice-sheets-and-glaciers\/\" title=\"Ice Cap (EF): Extremely cold year-round with no vegetation; ice sheets and glaciers.\">melted ice<\/a> sometimes from  clouds which moved up the mountain and condensed as they cooled. There are  normally several of these streams and they flow down the mountain and feed rivers,  which move further down the landscape until they feed other rivers and flow out  to sea. These systems of streams and rivers will form on all sides of a  mountain but may be separated by a natural barrier such as a ridge. It is these  barriers which are known as watershed. The system of streams and rivers are  known as the drainage basin. Their name describes them well as they act as  drainage for the landscape and flow towards the basin of the ridge or valley. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"><img decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" width=\"599\" height=\"392\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Watershed and Drainage Basin Public Domain.png\" alt=\"Watershed and Drainage Basin Public Domain.png\" \/><\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Ponds\" id=\"Ponds\"><\/a>Ponds<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">A  pond is a small body of water that is surrounded by land. They can be fed by  streams or rivers or they can be completely separated forming in basins from  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/the-water-cycle-how-water-moves-on-earth\/\" title=\"The Water Cycle: How Water Moves on Earth\">rain water<\/a>. They can be man-made or natural and may be intermittent or a  permanent features of the landscape. Many people have defined ponds as bodies  of water which light can penetrate to the bottom throughout, but there is no  official classification.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Lakes\" id=\"Lakes\"><\/a>Lakes<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Lake.png\" alt=\"Lake\" width=\"606\" height=\"455\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> <span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Lakes,  like ponds, are surrounded by land but may be fed by streams or rivers which  may also be an outlet for the lake. They can also be separate from river and  stream systems and some form in the crater of volcanoes (volcanic or crater  lakes) completely isolated. Lakes may also be manmade or natural and can differ  immensely in size. No official size has been agreed upon to separate ponds from  lakes but the smallest lake in the world is believed to be Lake Aiso in Italy  (at 25 meters across and 13 meters deep) with Lake Superior in Canada with the  largest surface area (82,414&nbsp;km<sup>2<\/sup> or 31,820&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi) or  Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia which is the deepest (1,637 meters or 5,314 ft  but growing wider and deeper each year) and contains around 20% of the worlds  surface fresh water. Many of the larger lakes are so massive that the effects  of gravity from the moon and sun can be observed in the form of tides similar  to the oceans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Lochs\" id=\"Lochs\"><\/a>Lochs<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Loch.png\" alt=\"Loch\" width=\"605\" height=\"454\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;\">A  loch is a Gaelic term for a lake and is used for many of the lakes in Scotland  but also some in the North of England. The term loch is also used for many sea  inlets that are numerous in Scotland&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Is-The-Caspian-Sea-a-Lake\" id=\"Is-The-Caspian-Sea-a-Lake\"><\/a>Is The Caspian Sea a Lake?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;\">The  Caspian Sea certainly once was a sea. It was linked to the ocean and is why it  is salty. If it is a lake, which many in authority claim, then it is the  largest lake in the World by far at 386,400 square km (149,200sq mi) and  contains one third of all inland water. It is argued that it is now a lake  because it is no longer connected to the oceans and it only fed from fresh  water sources. It is however argued by equally qualified experts, such as the United Nations Group of Experts on  Geographical Names (the UNGEGN) that the Caspian Sea is indeed a sea.  The UNGEGEN however have no legal authority over names and their normal policy  is that the owner decides. The Caspian Sea is bordered by Azerbaijan, Iran,  Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan and each nation&rsquo;s name denotes that it is  a Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><em><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:10.0pt; \">See <\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1879366510000424#fn1\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:10.0pt; \">http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1879366510000424#fn1<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:10.0pt; \"> for further information&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Lagoons\" id=\"Lagoons\"><\/a>Lagoons<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Lagoon.png\" alt=\"Lagoon\" width=\"606\" height=\"430\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><br \/>\n    <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:12pt;\">Image  of large lagoon on the Atafu atoll in Tokelau released in to the public domain  by NASA <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:12.0pt; \">A lagoon is a shallow body  of water that once belonged to a larger body of water by became separated by  land or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/human-impact-on-coral-reefs\/\" title=\"Human Impact on Coral Reefs\">coral reefs<\/a>. Most lagoons are salty, having formed from sea water, and  are therefore found on the coast or on atolls. They are formed when land  surrounding a shallow basin erodes allowing sea water to fill the basin. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:12.0pt; \">They are like giant rock  pools and their depth and overall size can be affected by the tides of the  surrounding sea. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:12.0pt; \">Despite being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/dead-sea\/\" title=\"Dead Sea\">salty bodies<\/a>  of water the barriers give them more protection than ocean waters and this  gives them a more varied habitat for the indigenous wildlife which is more  similar to that of freshwater lakes. Additionally the salt concentration of  some lagoons is changed by rain which floods the lagoon and, depending on the  season, this can make lagoons freshwater for short periods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Water-Bodies-Interactive-Data-Map\" id=\"Water-Bodies-Interactive-Data-Map\"><\/a>Interactive  Data Map of Bodies of water<\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\">\n    <object data=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Interactive%20Maps\/WaterBodies\/web\/StatPlanet.html\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\"><embed src=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Interactive\" maps=\"Maps\"\/WaterBodies\/web\/StatPlanet.html width=\"700\" height=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\"><\/embed>Error: Embedded data could not be displayed.<\/object>\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Longest River<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/exploring-the-worlds-largest-rivers\/\" title=\"Exploring the World's Largest Rivers\">international rivers<\/a>  which extend through more than one country so the Nile River is displayed for  all of the eleven countries it travels through (with exception of Canada (the  1% of the Mississippi runs through Canada)).&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Largest Lake<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; The largest lakes for each  country may be international lakes and reside in more than one country. These  lakes are therefore the largest lakes that rest in those countries not the  largest lake that resides completely in the country&rsquo;s borders<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Area of Water<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; the total water surface area in  that country including lakes, rivers etc and includes the percentage of water  surface from the total surface area of the country<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Coastline<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; Length of the coastline<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Seas  or Oceans &ndash; list of adjoining coastal water bodies including channels, Gulfs,  Bays, Seas and Oceans<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Seas\" id=\"Seas\"><\/a>Seas<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Seas  are large bodies of water which are generally regarded to be connected to the  world&rsquo;s oceans and by this definition the Caspian Sea would have to be classed  as the world&rsquo;s largest lake. Seas are bordered by land, in most cases  partially, which allows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/ocean-currents-and-their-impact-on-climate\/\" title=\"Ocean Currents and Their Impact on Climate\">ocean currents<\/a> to continue and control the currents of  the connected seas. In some cases seas can be more completely enclosed, such as  the Mediterranean Sea, and have a small inlet to an ocean but are predominantly  surrounded by land. This prevents the ocean currents from having a great impact  on the currents of the sea. In the case of the Black Sea, which is fed by the  Mediterranean Sea, it has such a distant connection to the ocean (around 2,000  miles) that it is almost entirely unaffected by Ocean currents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The  term sea includes bay, gulfs, straits and channels. The English Channel is a  partially land bordered sea which feeds the North Sea which was created around  6 thousand years ago when a tsunami separated Britain from the continent. This  is just one example of how huge floods from the melting of polar ice and  tsunamis throughout history have shaped not only our land but also our seas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Oceans\" id=\"Oceans\"><\/a>Oceans<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The  Oceans are the largest bodies of water found on Earth and these alone cover  70.1% of its surface containing around 1.3 billion cubic km (300 million cubic  miles) of water. That amount of water existed on Earth in some form or another  since its creation around 4.5 billion years ago but the Earth would have been  too hot (and the atmospheric pressure too low) for it to have existed in liquid  form for quite some time. However at some point in the history of earth the  conditions became right for liquid water and rain began to fall. That rain  would have fallen and hit the hot rocks below before the heat of the rocks  caused the water to evaporate once more and as this process continued the rocks  and surface of the earth eventually cooled. It would have rained beyond  anything experienced since and for many millions of years until the Oceans  formed. It is not known when exactly when the oceans as we know them had been  created but evidence shows that ocean sized bodies of water formed at least 3.3  billion years ago. This water would have initially been incredibly acidic due to  the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere and this acidic water broke up and  dissolved the rocks. The minerals from these rocks dissolved into the water  making it salty and this salt content soon became what it is today, around  3.5%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Life  began on Earth in either the oceans or rock pools at their edges around 3.5  billion years ago and this life evolved and populated the land and sea. The  Oceans are home to at least 230,000 species.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Just  as there was once a supercontinent which slowly separated and moved into the  landmasses we know today there would have once been one super-ocean and the  movement of the continents gave us the five Oceans. There are some that still  consider all the oceans to be one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/geography-of-earth\/\" title=\"Geography of Earth\">global ocean<\/a> without division known as the  World Ocean. The Oceans as most people know them are:-<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Pacific  Ocean (155,557,000 km2 or 60,060,893 mi2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Atlantic  Ocean (76,762,000 km2 or 29,637,974 mi2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Indian  Ocean (68,556,000 km2 or 26,469,620 mi2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Southern  Ocean (20,327,000 km2 or 7,848,299 mi2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Arctic  Ocean (14,056,000 km2 or 5,427,052 mi2) <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The geography of earth includes many bodies of water from streams, rivers and lakes to channels, seas and oceans with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_edit_last":["1"],"_edit_lock":["1708116893:1"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"ttr_page_title_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_page_foot_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_header_size_select":["None"],"ttr_background_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_change_header_image_text":[""],"ttr_background_size_select":["None"],"ttr_header_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_custom_style_text":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["bodies of 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