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Pacific Ocean

Introduction

Clouds over Temoe Atoll

The Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water in the world. With almost 170 million square kilometres it cover around 30% of the earth's surface and nearly half of the earth's water surface. It stretches from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and from the America's in the east to Asia and New Zealand in the west.

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Geography

The Pacific Ocean starts in the north around the Bering Strait and Sea and from there goes always the south towards the 60º south parallel, forming the border with the Southern Ocean. The widest stretch is around the 5º N parallel where it's almost 20,000 kilometres wide between Indonesia and the central and northwestern coast of South America. The average depth is about 4,100 metres but the deepest point on earth, the Mariana Trench drops down to 10,911 metres below the surface.

Pitcairn: last goodbye

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Countries/Islands

Although there are an estimated 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, the ones included below are the most important ones and include several independent countries as well as a few dependent or semi-autonomous ones. The islands around the equator are generally divised into Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.