Major Seas of World : Arabian Sea

• Area – 3,862,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 4652 m
• Major Ports of Arabian Sea – Gwadar port, Karachi port, port of Salalah (Oman), Kandla, JNPT, Mumbai port trust, Nhava Sheva, Marmugao etc.
• Major Islands of Arabian sea – Socotra island (Yemen), Masirah island (Oman), Astola island(Pakistan), Kavaratti islands (India).

The ancient names of Arabian sea include Sindhu sea, Erythrean sea, Persian sea etc. Arabian sea is bounded by the Somali peninsula(Horn of Africa) in west, Arabian peninsula in north and Indian (Deccan) peninsula in east. The bordering countries of Arabian sea are Djibouti, Somalia in east, Yemen, Oman, Iran and Pakistan in north and India in east and Sri Lanka, Maldives in south. Three comparatively smaller seas – Gulf of Aden, Red sea and Gulf of Oman are considered as the part of Arabian sea. Some of the important cities which are on the coast of Arabian sea are Karachi, Gwadar, Aden, Muscat, Mumbai and Kochi.

Major seas of world : Caspian Sea

• Area – 371,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 1025 m
• Major Ports – Baku, Aktau, Atyrau
• Important Islands – Bulla island, Piralhi island, Nargin island

It is also called as world’s largest lake as it is totally landlocked and fits the definition of lake. However its water is saline. Caspian sea is located between Asia and Europe. Caspian sea is known for world’s first offshore oil well which was drilled in 1873 near Baku. Baku which is the capital of Azerbaijan is called as Black Gold Capital due to its vast Crude oil reserves. The bordering countries of Caspian sea are Russia in north, Kazakhstan in northeast, Turkmenistan in east, Iran in south and Azerbaijan in west. Major rivers which flows into Caspian sea are Ural, Sulak, Terek, Atrek and Kura. Some of the important cities that lie on coast of Caspian are – Ali Abad, Astara, Bandar-e-gaz (Iran); Baku (Azerbaijan); Atyrau, Aktau (Kazakhstan); Astrakhan, Derbent (Russia) and Turkmenbasy of Turmenistan.

Major seas of world : Caribbean Sea

• Area – 2,754,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 7686 m
• Major Ports – Boca Grande, Puerto Miranda of Venezuela, Nassau port (Bahamas), Bridgetown (Barbados), Roatan (Honduras), Cancun(Mexico), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Falmouth (Jamaica)
• Important Islands – Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles

Caribbean sea is one of the most important components of Atlantic ocean. It is bounded by a number of Caribbean island countries and coasts. Caribbean sea contains second largest barrier reefs of world (first being Great barrier reefs of Australia). This barrier reefs runs along the coast of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Caribbean sea is surrounded by Yuctan peninsula of Mexico and Belize in north; the central american countries like Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica in west; South American countries like Columbia and Venezuela in south; Greater Antilles containing Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Cayman islands in northeast; Lesser Antilles containing Dominica, St Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago in southeast. Caribbean sea is known for its huge crude oil reserves and is also important for fishing industry.

Gulf of Mexico

• Area – 1,550,000
• Max Depth – 4384
• Important Islands – Arrecife Alcaranes ( group of coral islands)

Gulf of Mexico is important part of Atlantic ocean. It is surrounded by United States in west, Floridan peninsula in north east, Yuctan peninsula of Mexico in southwest and islands of Cuba in east. The islands of Cuba restricts its connectivity with Atlantic ocean to a great extent. Gulf of Mexico is connected to Atlantic ocean through Floridan strait only  which ensures very limited tidal changes. Gulf of Mexico is connected to Caribbean sea by Yuctan channel in southwest. Most of the basin of Gulf of Mexico is made of shallow continental shelf. Gulf of Mexico is commercially used for crude oil and natural gas reserves mostly in continental shelf nearby western part and bay of Campeche. Gulf of Mexico has also economic aspect of fishing industry. It is famous for shrimps, crabs, oysters, red snapper and amberjack fishes.

Mediterranean Sea

• Area – 2,510,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 5267 m
• Major Ports – Antalya, Mersin, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Port Said, Alexandria, Tripoli, Misrata, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Naples
• Important Islands – Cyprus, Malta, Sicily, Ibiza, Balearic islands of Spain, Crete (Greece)

Mediterranean sea is generally considered as the part of Atlantic ocean. The word Mediterranean means enclosed by land enclosed. In actuality also, this sea is enclosed from the land from all directions except the strait of Gibraltar which provides a narrow passage to connect this sea with Atlantic ocean. The borders of Mediterranean is defined by Europe in north, Asia in east, Africa in south. Mediterranean sea is connected to Black sea by Dardanelles and Bosporus straits. Some smaller seas which are considered as part of Mediterranean are  – Alboran sea, Balearic sea, Tyrrhenian sea, Ionian sea, Aegean sea, Sea of Marmara. There are total 23 countries that are bordering Mediterranean sea. These are :-

• European Countries: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Greece;
• Asian Countries: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine(Gaza Strip) and Israel;
• African Countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Persian Gulf

• Area – 251,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 90 m
• Major Ports – Port Ras al ghar (Saudi Arabia), Port Ras LAfan (Qatar), Port Asalouyeh (Iran), Bandar Lengeh (Iran), Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Port Ar Ruwais (UAE), Port of Sharjah (UAE), Port Ajman (UAE) etc.
• Important Islands – Bahrain, Qeshm (Iran), Bubiyan (Kuwait), Greater & Lesser Tunb, Kish (Iran), Tarout (Saudi Arabia), Dalma (UAE)

Persian gulf is comparatively a shallow sea with average depth of 50 m and maximum depth of 90 m. Persian gulf is connected to Gulf of Oman by a narrow strait called Hormuz strait. Gulf of Oman is itself a part of Arabian sea. Persian gulf is also called as Arabian gulf or simply the Gulf. It is surrounded by Kuwait and Iraq in northwest, Iran in north, Musandam (enclave) Governorate of Oman, United Arab Emirates in southeast, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in west. Persian gulf and its coastal areas are known as world’s largest source of crude oil and Safaniya oil field owned by Saudi Arabia is largest oil fields of world. In terms of international trade, this gulf is highly important as this produces maximum crude oil among other known sources of world. Major cities which lies on the coast of Persian gulf are – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah(UAE), Dammam(Saudi Arabia), Doha(Qatar), Khobar (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Manama (Bahrain), Bandar Abbas (Iran)

South China Sea

• Area – 3,500,000 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 5016 m
• Important Islands – Spartly islands, Paracel islands, Pratas islands, Riau island (Indonesia), Palwan island (Philippines)

South China sea is basically a part of wast Pacific ocean. It is surrounded by IndoChina and Malay peninsula in west, islands of Sumatra and Java of Indonesia in southwest, Borneo island in southeast, Palwan island and Philippines in east, mainland China and Taiwan island in north. The countries that forms the border of South China sea are – China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. South China sea contains about 250 islands, the majority of which are uninhabited. These islands are classified in three groups namely Spartly, Paracel and Pratas. Several territorial disputes over the ownership of several islands and as a whole south China sea has been seen with China emerging with ownership claiming disputes along with creating reclaimed artificial islands in south China sea.

Sea of Japan

• Area – 977,980 Sq Km
• Max Depth – 3742 m
• Important Islands – Sakhalin, Rishiri, Rebun, Okushiri, Teuri, Oshima, Kojima, Russky, Sado, Ulleung, Tsushima

Sea of Japan is also a marginal component of Pacific ocean. Sea of Japan is surrounded by mainland Asia in east, Sakhalin island of Russia in northeast, Hokkaidu, Honshu and Kyushu islands of Japan in southeast and Korean peninsula in southwest. Sea of Japan is connected to South China sea by a narrow passage of Korea strait. It is connected to sea of Okhotsk by Tartary strait. The countries that surrounds the sea of Japan are mainland Russia in northwest, North and South Korea in southeast and Japan in east. Since this is completely enclosed by the lands except two straits in north and south, the effect of tides is negligible similar to Mediterranean sea and Gulf of Mexico. Some important cities which lie on coast of sea of Japan are – Sapporo, Fukuoka, Niigata, Nagasaki (Japan); Busan, Pohang, Yangyang (South Korea), Vladivostok (Russia).

List of Major Seas of Atlantic Ocean

List of Seas of Arctic Ocean

List of Major Seas of Indian Ocean

List of Major seas of Pacific Ocean

List of Major Seas of Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean)