Pacific Ocean

1. Pacific Ocean Introduction

Background:
  The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by
  the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean).
  Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru,
  Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the
  International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a
  fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean
  south of 60 degrees south.

2. Pacific Ocean Geography

Location:
  body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western
  Hemisphere

Geographic coordinates:
  0 00 N, 160 00 W

Map references:
  Political_Map_of_the_World

Area:
  total: 155.557 million km
  note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China
    Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of
    Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies

Area - comparative:
  about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface;
  larger than the total land area of the world

Coastline:
  135,663 km

Climate:
  planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit
  remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds
  are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical
  cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and
  affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic
  uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at
  the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is
  monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when
  moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season
  during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back
  to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east
  Asia from May to December

Terrain:
  surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise,
  warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern
  Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific,
  sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the
  southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent
  in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East
  Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches,
  including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m
  highest point: sea level 0 m

Natural resources:
  oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates,
  placer deposits, fish

Natural hazards:
  surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes
  referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones
  (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent
  from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of
  Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most
  common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs
  in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere
  and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme
  north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a
  maritime hazard from June to December

Environment - current issues:
  endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals,
  turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea

Geography - note:
  the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait,
  and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the
  North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral
  islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean

3. Pacific Ocean Economy

Economy - overview:
  The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and
  particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides
  low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing
  grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the
  construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came
  from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is
  playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US,
  Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil
  and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985,
  has led to fluctuations in new drillings.

4. Pacific Ocean Transportation

Ports and terminals:
  Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong (China), Kao-hsiung (Taiwan), Los Angeles
  (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US),
  Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok
  (Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan)

Transportation - note:
  Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound
  (Washington state)

5. Pacific Ocean Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  some maritime disputes (see littoral states)


<Factbook 2006>
