Pacific Ocean



The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceans. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

Description
At 165.25 million square kilometers in area, this largest division of the World Ocean covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Surface water temperatures can vary from −1.4° C, (the freezing point of sea water), in the poleward areas to about 30° C near the equator. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan Current.

History
The eastern Pacific Ocean was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "southern sea" which he named Mar del Sur. The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He therefore called it Mar Pacifico in Portuguese, meaning "peaceful sea".

Modern Pacific Ocean
Over 95% of Earth's "Floating Cities" are located in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The relative handful in the Northern Pacific are usually either resource extraction sites (very rarely), or belong to Sci Corps.

Most of Earth's cetacean population live in the Pacific Ocean.

This region's main industry is tourism.