Atlantic Ocean, body of salt water covering approximately one-fifth of Earth’s surface and separating the continents of Europe and Africa to the east from those of North and South America to the west. The ocean’s name, derived from Greek mythology, means the “Sea of Atlas.” It is second in size only to the Pacific Ocean.
The Atlantic Ocean, with depth contours and submarine features.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Rocky coast of Labrador, Can., on the Labrador Sea, an embayment of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.Malak/Shostal Associates
The Atlantic is, generally speaking, S-shaped and narrow in relation to its length. The area of the Atlantic without its dependent seas is approximately 31,830,000 square miles (82,440,000 square km), and with them its area is about 41,100,000 square miles (106,460,000 square km). It has ... (100 of 11,620 words)
