The largest bodies of water include oceans, seas, gulfs, bays, and lakes. The charts show the largest bodies of water, including Lake Chad’s significant size reduction. The first graph shows the largest saltwater bodies, including the Southern Ocean. Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake, and most of the largest lakes are in North America.
The largest bodies of water in the world include oceans, seas, gulfs, bays and lakes. While there is no agreement on the precise size, as the boundaries of the water bodies are unclear, the charts below include some of the largest. Also noteworthy are the dimensional variations due to natural and unnatural causes. Lake Chad is worth mentioning in this regard. With an area of over 9,653 square miles (25,000 square km) in the 1960s – about the size of Lake Erie – Lake Chad was Africa’s fourth largest lake. In the late 1990s, this lake had an area of just 521 square miles (1350 square km), about 1/3 the size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
The first graph is limited to saltwater bodies. It includes the Southern Ocean, recognized in 2000 by the International Hydrographic Organization as the fifth largest ocean in the world, joining the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic oceans. As the graph shows, it is the fourth largest of these five oceans.
OrderNameArea in square miles (km squared) 1. Pacific Ocean 60,060,893 (155,557,000) 2. Atlantic Ocean 29,637,974 (76,762,000) 3. Indian Ocean 26,469,620 (68,556,000) 4. Southern Ocean 7,848,299 (20,327,00 0) 5.Arctic Ocean 5,427,052 (14,056,000 )6.South China Sea1,148,500 (2,974,600) 7.Caribbean Sea971,394 (2,515,900) 8.Mediterranean Sea969,116 (2,510,000) 9.Bering Sea872,977 (2,261,000) 10.Gulf of Mexico582,088 (1,50 7,600) 11.mare of okhotsk537,493 (1,392,100) 12.mare del Japan/Eastern sea391,083 (1,012,900) 13.Hudson Bay281,893 (730,100) 14.Mar Oriental Chinese256,372 (664,000) 15.mare of the Andamane218.109 ( 564,900 ) 16.Black Sea196,101 (507,900) 17.Red Sea174,904 (453,000)18.Caspian Sea143,000 (371,000)19.Baltic Sea76,762 (415,000)
Lake Superior, one of the Great Lakes, is the largest freshwater lake. The other Great Lakes are also among the largest freshwater lakes in the world. The Caspian Sea, although technically a lake, contains salt water. Interestingly, most of these lakes are in the Northern Hemisphere and most of them are in North America.
Order Name and LocationArea in Square Miles (Square Km) 1.Lake Superior, USA/Canada31,820 (82,413) 2.Lake Victoria, Uganda/Tanzania/Kenya 26,828 (69,484) 3.Lake Huron, USA/Canada23,010 (59,596) 4. Lake Michigan, US22,400 (58,016) 5. Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania12,355 (31,999) 6. Lake Baikal, Russia12,162 (31,499) 7. Great Bear Lake, Canada 12,000 (31,080) 8. Great Slave Lake, Canada11,170 (28,930)9.Lake Nyasa, Tanzania/Mozambique/Malawi10,900 (28,231)10.Lake Erie, USA/Canada9,940 (25,744)11.Lake Winnipeg, Canada9,094 (23,553)12. Lake Ontario, US/Canada7,540 (19,529)
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