The World's Largest Bodies Of Water

The term ' To Sail The Seven Seas' was first mentioned in the ninth century when Arabian author, Ya'qubi, on explaining how to sail to China, quoted -

Who ever wants to go to China must cross the seven seas.

Each one with it's own colour and wind and fish and breeze.

The term has been used ever since to describe long sea journeys. The term was further popularised in 1896 when Rudyard Kipling wrote his famous book of poems called 'The Seven Seas'.

It became familiar again when the film 'Sinbad and the Legend of the Seven Seas, was released in 2003.

The term is also annexed with the word Edinburgh, in the name of Tristan Da Cunha's capital city, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas.

The original seven seas which Ya'qubi referred to were most probably a figure of speech, more than a geographical designation, as in ancient times the word seven was widely used to mean many.

Today a modern map charts five oceans, The Pacific Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Indian Ocean, The Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic / Southern Ocean and thousands of seas, straits, gulfs and bays.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST BODIES OF SALINE (SEA) WATER

(By surface area in square kilometers)

Pacific Ocean - 155,556,651 sq km.

Atlantic Ocean - 76,761,938 sq km.

Indian Ocean - 68,555,923 sq km.

Antarctic / Southern Ocean - 20,327,001 sq km.

Arctic Ocean - 14,055,930 sq km.

Hudson Bay - 4,041,400 sq km.

South China Sea - 2,974,601 sq km.

Caribbean Sea - 2,515,898 sq km.

Mediterranean Sea - 2,513,169 sq km.

Bering Sea - 2,260,971 sq km.

Bay of Bengal - 2,172,000 sq km.

Philippine Sea - 2,000,000 sq km.

Coral Sea - 1,850,000 sq km.

Sea of Okhotsk - 1,583,000 sq km.

Gulf of Mexico - 1,507,476 sq km.

Arabian Sea - 1,491,130 sq km.

Weddell Sea - 1,081,548 sq km.

Sea of Japan - 978,000 sq km.

Tasman Sea - 900,000 sq km.

THE WORLD'S ENDORHEIC SEAS

An endorheic sea is generally a landlocked body of water or inland drainage basin that is neither filled by or drains into an ocean. Endorheic seas are generally composed of rainwater, snow melt or river drainage, with evaporation as their primary cause of water loss, which generally contain extensive salt pans or flats which result in their waters having a higher salinity level than the world's oceans. Most of the world's bodies of endorheic seas are generally referred to as lakes or basins, with only four actually referred to as seas. These endorheic seas are -

The Aral Sea - Situated between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with a surface area of 17,160 sq km.

The Caspian Sea - Situated between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan with a surface area of 371,000 sq km.

The Dead Sea - Situated in Jordan with a surface area of 810 sq km.

The Salton Sea - Situated in California, USA with a surface area of 974 sq km.

The world's largest endhoreic lakes, also known as a mountain lakes, are Lake Titicaca, shown above, located along the Peru / Bolivia border at 8,372 square kilometers and Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan at 6,236 square kilometers.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST...........

The world's largest bay is the Hudson Bay, which is fed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north, east of Canada, which covers an area of 3,861,400 square kilometers.

The world's largest drainage basin, or river watershed, is caused by the River Amazon in South America, at 7,050,000 square kilometers.

The world's largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico, a body of water fed by the Caribbean Sea, which covers an area of 1,507,476 square kilometers.

The world's largest sea is the South China Sea, a sea of the Pacific Ocean situated off the south coast of China, which covers an area of 2,974,601 square kilometers.

The world's longest commercial seaway is the 4,000 kilometer, St Lawrence Seaway, which links the city of Montreal in Quebec with Lake Erie in Canada. The seaway incorporates the 1,197 kilometer long, St Lawrence River, the 43 kilometer long, Welland Canal and the Canadian Great Lakes Waterway.

The world's largest strait is the Strait of Malacca, situated between Malaysia and Sumatra, which is 804,672 kilometers long.

The world's widest waterfall is Victoria Falls, situated on the Zimbabwe / Zambia border, which is 1.609 kilometers wide.

The world's tallest waterfall is Angel Falls, situated in Venezuela, which is 979 meters high.

The world's largest waterfall by number of drops, is the Iguaza Falls in Brazil, which consists of 27 cataract waterfalls or drops, which cover an area of 2.7 kilometers.

The world's highest situated freshwater lake is Lake Ojos de Salada, located along the Chile / Argentina border in South America, situated at an elevation of 6,390 meters above sea level.

The world's highest situated navigable lake is Lake Titicaca, located on the Peru / Bolivia border in South America, situated at an elevation of 8,372 meters above sea level.

THE WORLD'S TEN LONGEST RIVERS

River Nile - 6,695 km.- Africa.

River Amazon - 6,516 km.- South America.

River Yangste - 6,380 km.- Asia.

River Mssissippi / Misouri - 6,020 km.- North America.

River Ob- Irtysh - 5,570 km - Asia.

River Huang He - 5,464 km - Asia.

River Congo - 4,667 km. - Africa.

River Mekong - 4,425 km.- Asia.

River Amur - 4,416 km. - Asia.

River Lena - 4,400 km.- Asia.

NORTH FLOWING RIVERS

It is a complete myth that rivers do not flow in a northerly direction, or that the ones that do are somewhat unusual. Rivers will always take the path of least resistance, therefore all rivers actually flow downhill, irrespective of direction. So there are many, many rivers which flow north, as long as north is downhill, including the world's longest river the River Nile. Shown below are seven of the world's longest, north flowing rivers.

The River Nile - Africa - 6,695 km.

The River Ob - Russia - 5,570 km.

The River Yenisey - Russia - 5,550 km.

The River Lena - Russia - 4,400 km.

The Mackenzie River - Canada - 4,241 km.

The River Magdalena - Colombia - 1,540 km.

River Rhine - Europe - 1,233 km.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST BODIES OF FRESHWATER

(LAKES)

Lake Superior - Situated between Canada and the USA with a surface area of 82,414 sq km.

Lake Victoria - Situated between Uganda and Kenya with a surface area of 69,485 sq km.

Lake Huron - Situated between Canada and the USA with a surface area of 59,600 sq km.

Lake Michigan - Situated between Canada and the USA with a surface area of 58,000 sq km.

Lake Tanganyika - Situated between Tanzania and Uganda with a surface area of 32,893 sq km.

Lake Baikal - Situated in Russia with a surface area of 31,500 sq km. This lake is also the world's deepest at 1,642 meters deep.

Great Bear Lake - Situated in Canada with a surface area of 31,080 sq km.

Lake Malawi - Situated on the African continent and covering parts of Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi, with a surface area of 30,044 sq km.

Great Slave Lake - Situated in Canada with a surface area of 28,930 sq km.

Lake Erie - Situated in Canada with a surface area of 25,719 sq km.

THE WORLD'S LONGEST MAN MADE WATERWAYS

(CANALS)

The Grand Canal - Linking the cities of Beijing and Hangzhou in China - 1,776 kilometers long with 24 locks - Constuction began in the fifth century.

The Karakum Canal - Linking the Amu Darya River with the city of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan through the Karakum Desert - 1,375 kilometers long - Completed in 1988.

The Saimaa Canal - Linking Lake Saimaa in Finland with the city of Vyborg in Russia - 814 kilometers long with 8 locks - Completed in 1856.

The Manych Ship Canal - Linking the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea through Russia - 700 kilometers long with 6 locks - Begun in 1936, construction still ongoing.

The Gota Canal System - Linking the cities of Gothenburg and Soderkoping in Sweden - 614 kilometers long in total with 34 locks, although only 190 kilometers is actually canalised - Completed in 1832.

The Erie Canal - Linking Lake Erie with the Hudson River through New York State, U.S.A - 584 kilometers long with 36 locks - Completed in 1825.

The Grand Union Canal - Linking the cities of London and Birmingham in England - 236 kilometers long with 166 locks - Completed in 1929.

The Nara Canal - Linking the Sukkur Barrage with the Jamrao Canal, Sindh Province, Pakistan - 364 kilometers long - Completed in 1857.

The Rhone / Rhine Canal - Linking the North Sea with the Mediterranean Sea through France - 349 kilometers long with 114 locks - Completed in 1834.

The Marne / Rhine Canal - Linking the cities of Vitry le Francois and Strasbourg in France - 313 kilometers long with 154 locks - Completed in 1830.

The Leeds Liverpool Canal - (Shown above) Linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool in England - 204 kilometers long with 91 locks - Completed in 1816.

? Many people are surprised that the world's most famous canals, the Panama, the Caledonian and the Suez are absent from the above list, that is because -

The Panama Canal, which links the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through the central American country of Panama, is just 77 kilometers long.

The Caledonian Canal, which links the Scottish cities of Inverness and Fort William, is just 97 kilometers long.

The Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, is 193 kilometers long, although 31 kilometers of this is access channels, with the canal proper being only 162 kilometers long.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST NATURAL HARBOURS

Much controversy surrounds the title holder of the world's largest natural harbour. This controversy arises because not everyone can actually define a natural harbour in relation to an oceanic bay, a wide river estuary or a man made harbour.

A natural harbour is geographically defined as a protected body of water, generally surrounded on three sides by high elevations such as mountains, cliffs or islands, which is also deep enough to provide safe anchorage for ships. Many natural harbours are formed from submerged river valleys or glaciers and are known geographically as a ria. A bay however is a broad sea inlet with a natural curve of low lying land surrounding it, therefore it is generally too wide or too exposed for ships to anchor in high winds. On the other hand a river estuary, which in many cases are indeed deep enough to accommodate shipping, will find it'self completely devoid of water at low tide, therefore rendering it useless as a ship's anchorage during these times.

At 947 square kilometers in size the Kaipara Harbour located on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island can probably best be described as the world's largest natural harbour.

The harbour is made up of a complex system of over a hundred small river estuaries and was formed by several submerged river valleys, making it a perfect example of a ria. Found below are the following nine largest natural harbours found around the world, they are -

The Grand Harbour - Valetta, Malta - 316 sq km.

Scapa Flow - Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK - 312 sq km.

Waitemata Harbour - Auckland, New Zealand - 181 sq km.

Cork Harbour - Cork, Republic of Ireland - 70 sq km.

Port Jackson - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - 55 sq km. Australia's Port Jackson Harbour is also the world's deepest natural harbour.

Victoria Harbour - Hong Kong - 48 sq km.

The Port of New York - New York City, New York State, USA - 40 sq km.

Poole Harbour - Dorset, England, UK - 36 sq km.

Halifax Harbour - Nova Scotia, Canada - 32 sq km.

LIKE THIS? Show your friends - Tweet