Oceans & Seas Quiz

Test your knowledge of the world's waters.

The five oceans and the major seas — including the one that was only formally recognised recently, which is why sources disagree.

Five oceans, not four

The standard list is Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. The Southern Ocean — the water encircling Antarctica — was formally recognised relatively recently, so plenty of older maps, textbooks and quizzes still list only four.

If a quiz marks you wrong on this, that is usually why.

Scale worth internalising

The Pacific is larger than all the world's land area put together. That is genuinely hard to believe and therefore easy to remember, and it recalibrates how you read a world map — most of the planet is water, and most of that water is one ocean.

The Atlantic is second, the Indian third. The Arctic is by far the smallest and shallowest, and much of it is covered by sea ice for part of the year.

The major seas

Seas are smaller, partly enclosed bodies usually attached to an ocean:

Mediterranean — between Europe, Africa and Asia, connected to the Atlantic through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.
Caribbean — between the Americas.
South China Sea — one of the world's busiest shipping regions.
Red Sea — between Africa and Arabia, connecting to the Indian Ocean.
Black Sea — connected to the Mediterranean through the Turkish straits.
Baltic, North Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Coral Sea.

The ones that are not what they sound like

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth and has no outlet to any ocean. Whether it is legally a sea or a lake has real consequences for the countries around it, because different bodies of international law apply.

The Dead Sea is a lake, not a sea. Its salinity is high enough that almost nothing lives in it, and its surface is the lowest land elevation on Earth.

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake.

Those three appear in quizzes constantly for exactly this reason.

Where to go next

Physical Features covers the rivers, mountains and deserts that complete the physical map alongside these. For inland water, the Largest Lakes in the World Quiz starts with the Caspian Sea, a sea in name only; for land in the oceans, the Largest Islands in the World Quiz.

Frequently asked questions

How many oceans are there?

Five under the current standard: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. The Southern Ocean was formally recognised relatively recently, so older sources list four and quizzes still disagree about it.

Is the Caspian Sea a sea or a lake?

It is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth with no ocean outlet, which makes it a lake by most physical definitions. Whether it is legally a sea matters a great deal to the countries around it, because different international law applies to each.

Which is the largest ocean?

The Pacific, which covers more area than all the world's land combined. The Atlantic is second and the Indian third, with the Arctic by far the smallest and shallowest.

Is the Dead Sea really a sea?

No, it is a hypersaline lake. Its salinity is high enough that almost nothing can live in it, and its surface is the lowest land elevation anywhere on Earth.

Play Oceans & Seas offline in the app

Oceans & Seas Quiz and the rest of the arcade are in the free Geography Quiz Arcade app: Get it on Google Play · Download on the App Store.