Pacific Ocean Facts

  • When it comes to the world’s five oceans, the Pacific is the largest, encompassing an area of over 65 million square miles.
  • This ocean alone accounts for almost 50 of the earth’s water surface and a little over 30 of its total surface area.
  • If you take all of the earth’s land mass and combine it, it will still be smaller than the Pacific Ocean.
  • The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 14,000 feet.
  • In case you’re counting, there are more than 25,000 islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, and this number is more than the island count for the rest of the four oceans combined.
  • Of these many islands, they are broken out into four types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms.
  • The first sign of life in the oceans dates back to more than 3.3 billion years ago. By contrast, the oldest sign of life on land dates back to only 400 million years ago.
  • Of all identified volcanic activity in the world, 75 of it is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is these underwater volcanoes that can cause devastating Tsunami (that can pick up speeds of up to 497 mph.
  • The Pacific Ocean connects with the Arctic Ocean by the Bering Strait and with the Atlantic Ocean by the Drake Passage, Straits of Magellan and the Panama Canal.
  • The longest reef in the world in located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia and is known as the Great Barrier Reef.
  • The name “Pacific Ocean” can be traced etymologically to the Latin derivative “Mare Pacificum” which translates to “Peaceful Sea.”
  • Because the Pacific Ocean is so vast, its water temperatures range from freezing (near the pole) to about 86 degrees Fahrenheit (near the equator).