Southern Ocean

Earth's oceans (World Ocean)
Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean

Southern Ocean around Antarctica (looking up at the bottom of the Earth)

Ice (white) in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica (light purple at bottom) grows and shrinks during the year

The Southern Ocean is the ocean around Antarctica. It was a new term in geography officially created in 2000. It means the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans around the continent of Antarctica out to sixty degrees south latitude. Some people call this ocean the Antarctic Ocean.

The total area is 20,327,000 km², and the coastline length is 17,968 km.

Other websites

• Oceanography Image of the Day, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• The CIA World Factbook's entry on the Southern Ocean
• The Fifth Ocean from Geography.About.com
• NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer Plot and download ocean observations
• NOAA FAQ about the number of oceans