l Issues Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Disputes - international:
Indonesian groups challenge Australia's claim to Ashmore Reef;
Australia has closed the surrounding waters to Indonesian
traditional fishing and created a national park in the region while
continuing to prospect for hydrocarbons in the vicinity

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Atlantic Ocean

Background:
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans
(after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern
Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund
(Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar
(Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are
important strategic access waterways. The decision by the
International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to
delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion
of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.

Geography Atlantic Ocean

Location:
body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the
Western Hemisphere

Geographic coordinates:
0 00 N, 25 00 W

Map references:
Political Map of the World

Area:
total: 76.762 million sq km
note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait,
Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador
Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the
Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies

Area - comparative:
slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US

Coastline:
111,866 km

Climate:
tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near
Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can
occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to
November

Terrain:
surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark
Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June;
clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in
the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the
southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
highest point: sea