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ATLANTIC OCEAN

@Atlantic Ocean:Geography

 Location: body of water between Africa, Antarctica, and the Western
 Hemisphere

 Map references: World

 Area:
 total area: 82.217 million sq km
 comparative area: slightly less than nine times the size of the US;
 second-largest of the world's four oceans (after the Pacific Ocean,
 but larger than Indian Ocean or Arctic Ocean)
 note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait,
 Denmark Strait, Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea,
 North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary
 water bodies

 Coastline: 111,866 km

 International disputes: some maritime disputes (see littoral states)

 Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of
 Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea;
 hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from
 August to November

 Terrain: surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark
 Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm water gyre
 (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic,
 counterclockwise warm water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean
 floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south
 centerline for the entire Atlantic basin; maximum depth is 8,605
 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench

 Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and
 whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic
 nodules, precious stones

 Environment:
 current issues: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals,
 sea lions, turtles, and whales; driftnet fishing is exacerbating
 declining fish stocks and contributing to international disputes;
 municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and
 eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico,
 Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and
 municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean
 Sea
 natural hazards: icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and
 the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been
 spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; icebergs from
 Antarctica occur in the extreme southern Atlantic Ocean; ships subject
 to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to
 May and extreme southern Atlantic from May to October; persistent fog
 can be a maritime hazard from May to September
 international agreements: NA

 Note: major choke points include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar,
 access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the
 Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound
 (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic
 Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean

@Atlantic Ocean:Government

 Digraph: ZH

Economy

 Overview: The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily
 trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western
 Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of
 natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The
 Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea,
 Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).

@Atlantic Ocean:Transportation

 Ports: Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium),
 Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco),
 Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk
 (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary
 Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK),
 Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples
 (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo
 (Norway), Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam
 (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden)

 Note: Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways

@Atlantic Ocean:Communications

 Telephone system:
 international: numerous submarine cables with most between continental
 Europe and the UK, North America and the UK, and in the Mediterranean;
 numerous direct links across Atlantic via INTELSAT satellite network

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