Atlantic Ocean Facts for Kids

Top Facts about the Atlantic Ocean

Here are our Top 10 Atlantic Ocean Facts for Kids with lots of useful info for school projects, and general knowledge, of course!

What you definitely should know about the Atlantic Ocean:

1. Location: Where is the Atlantic Ocean?

The Atlantic Ocean is located between the Americas to the West of the Atlantic Ocean basin and the continents of Europe and Africa to the East of the ocean basin.

The Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean.

Below you can see a world map showing the Atlantic Ocean:

Simply click the + and - signs on the left of the map and zoom into the map to see more about the bordering countries and to locate some of the islands, cities and ports we mention in the text below.

There are many islands in the Atlantic Oceans, amongst them the most well-known Atlantic Ocean island are:

Jamaica
Canary Islands (belonging to Spain)
Azores (belonging to Portugal)
Cap Verde Islands
Greenland, which not only is the largest island in the Atlantic Ocean, but also the largest island of our planet.

Can you find these islands on the map? Zoom into the map above or have a look here:

Map of the North Atlantic Ocean

2. Name: What does 'atlantic' mean?

The word 'Atlantic' originates from the Greek mythology meaning 'sea of Atlas'.

Atlas was the name of the Greek god of strength. Atlas, a titan, had fought against the Olympian gods for the control of the heavens. He was punished for this by Zeus and had to stand on the edge of the earth and carry the heavens (celestial spheres) on his shoulders.

Sculpture of Atlas carry the World - Frankfurt Train Station/ Germany

3. Size: How big is the Atlantic Ocean?

The Atlantic is the world’s second largest ocean and covers more than 20% of the Earth’s surface. It is the second largest ocean of the five world oceans and is thus smaller than the Pacific Ocean.

The greatest width of the ocean is between Brazil and Sierra Leone. The distance between those two coastlines on the South American continent and Africa is 2,848 km or 1770 miles. Can you find the two countries on the map?

Map of the South Atlantic Ocean

In size the Atlantic Ocean is about 6.5 times as large as the land area of the USA!

The coastlines around the Atlantic Ocean add up to about 11,900 km/ 7,400 miles.

4. Depth: How deep is the Atlantic Ocean?

The greatest depth of the Atlantic Ocean is the Milwaukee Deep in Puerto Rico with 8,605 m/ 28,232 ft.

The average depth is about 3,339 m/ 10,955 ft.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The Mid-Adtlantic Ridge is an underwater (also called submarine) mountain range which extends roughly from Iceland in the north to South Georgia and South Sandwich Island south of Argentina. It is the longest mountain range in the world, running down the center of the Atlantic Ocean!

The ridge divides the sea into two major basins, which are over 3,000 m/ 9,843 ft in depth. On the satellite image to the left, you can see the vertical (from top to bottom) light blue line in the deep blue sea. This is the boundary where the earth's continental places move apart, constantly creating new oceanic crust.

5. Temperature: How warm are the waters of the Atlantic Ocean?

The temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean waters depend on the location and on the ocean's currents. The nearer to the Equator the warmer the water tends to be.

The temperature of 28 degrees Celsius/ 82 degrees Fahrenheit is reached in coastal regions near the equator and the minimum temperatures is around minus 2 degrees Celsius/28 degrees Fahrenheit in the polar regions.

Did you know that the Atlantic Ocean also feeds several inland sea such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea? Read more facts here:

More Atlantic Ocean Facts

Rock of Gibraltar

6. Important Waterways: In Europe, the Straits of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco and the Bosporus in Turkey are two of the most well known waterways in the Atlantic Ocean.

A strategic waterway in the Americas is the Saint Lawrence seaway between Canada and the USA.

7. Atlantic Ocean Facts: Ports

Among the major seaports of the Atlantic Ocean are: in Europe the ports of Hamburg (Germany) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Rotterdam is the biggest container port in Europe.

rotterdam port Aerovista Luchtfotografie

Port of Rotterdam - image by Aerovista Luchtfotografie

In the Americas, the ports of New York (USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Colon (Panama) are the largest and busiest. Colon is known as the largest port on the Atlantic Ocean in Latin America with over 3 million containers per year! In South America, the ports of Cartagena (Colombia) and Santos (Brazil) are the busiest ports.

In Africa, the largest Atlantic Ocean ports are those of Tangier (Morocco), Lagos (Nigeria) and Cape Town (South Africa).

8. Atlantic Ocean Islands: The biggest ocean island on our planet is Greenland which is located in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Greenland belongs to Denmark. Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, the Canary Islands (Spain), the Azores (Portugal), São Tomé and Príncipe and the Cape Verde Islands off the African coast are all important islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Many of these islands just like the island of Tenerife (the largest of the Canary Islands in Spain) are of volcanic origin.

Island of Tenerife

The Caribbean islands on the North American continent are also islands of the Atlantic Ocean as the Caribbean Sea is a sea or part of the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba, Jamaica and Barbados are amongst the many Caribbean islands that also belong to the Atlantic Ocean.

9. Atlantic Ocean Facts:

Some important cities are located along the Atlantic Ocean coast. Among them are:

Boston (USA)
Cape Town (South Africa)
Casablanca (Morocco)
Dakar (Senegal)
Dublin (Irland)
Gibraltar (UK)
Lagos (Nigeria)
Lisbon (Portugal)
London (UK)
Luanda (Angola)
Miami (USA)
Montevideo (Uruguay)
New York (USA)
Quebec (Canada)
Reykjavik (Iceland)
Sao Paolo (Brazil)

Beach Huts in Cape Town, South Africa

Porto in Portugal

Can you find these Atlantic Ocean cities on a world map?

10. Famous Atlantic explorers

Amongst the most famous explorers of the Atlantic Ocean are Norwegian Roald Amundsen who reached the South Pole in 1911. Irishman Ernest Shackelton undertook three expeditions to the Antarctica from 1901 and Englishman Robert Falcon Scott went on his own Antarctic expeditions from 1901 as well.

Did you know that the Icelander Leif Erikson (970-1020) is remembered as the first 'European' to reach North America more than 500 years before Columbus!

The explorations of Leif Erikson and Erik the Red

The Icelander is said to have been the first man from Europe to cross the Atlantic Ocean and step onto North American land. He named the eastern coast of Canada 'Vinland', which is believed to be what is now Newfoundland. Erik the Red discovered Greenland.

Find out more about Iceland's attractions here

Last but not least: Did you know...?

Did you know that the Sargasso Sea is a region of the Atlantic Ocean? This region is known for its deep brown Sargassum seaweed that forms dense floating mats. The Sargasso Sea is the only region in the world that is named after a plant!

The waters of the Sargasso Sea in the Central Atlantic Ocean off the North American coast are calm.

The Sargasso Sea is not only the largest sea of the Atlantic Ocean but also the only one without a land boundary! The sea is only bounded by four ocean currents.

Excursion: Marginal Seas of the Atlantic Ocean

Did you know that the Atlantic Ocean also feeds several inland sea such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea? Read more facts here:

Baltic Sea Facts

Black Sea Facts

Marginal seas or arms of the Atlantic Ocean include the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea, which is the largest marginal sea.

Popular Pages

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Resources: Atlantic Ocean Facts

Central Intelligence Agency. "Atlantic Ocean." World Fact Book. Last updated 23 August 2024. Last accessed 30 August 2024
National Ocean Service. "How big is the Atlantic Ocean?" NOAA. Last accessed 30 August 2024
National Ocean Service. "Endangered Ocean: Northern Atlantic Right Whales". NOAA. Last accessed 30 August 2024

Image Credits for Atlantic Ocean Facts Page: Shutterstock.com

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