Until 1513, people did not know which ocean was the largest. The Spanish navigator Vasco Nunez de Balboa was lucky to be the first to see the vast expanses of water. The largest ocean was named by him Great. Seven years later, in 1520, a seafarer from Portugal, Fernand Magellan, traveled around the world. Thanks to him, it became known about the passage from the Atlantic to the largest ocean in the world - the Pacific.
It should be noted that until the very end of the 19th century almost no one was able to settle on the islands in the southern seas. But the largest ocean had (and has now) a special strategic significance. That is why mainly the conquest of the islands by the colonial powers took place. For strategic reasons, today the states of the world are trying to maintain their position in the Pacific zone. Thus, America owns the Mariana Islands, as well as the islands of Hawaii and Palau. Russia belongs to the Kuril Islands, France - New Caledonia, the islands of Futuna and Wallis, French Polynesia. Some of the territories that Britain owns have been turned into military bases.
The largest ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic. Closer to the outskirts of the continents, its water area is divided into seas. So, at the coastal zone of Southeast and East Asia, the Celebes and Banda Seas, Japan, Yellow, South China and South are formed. The Sea of Okhotsk is formed on the coast of Kamchatka, and Beringovo is higher (to the north).
In the Pacific, the deepest marine depressions on Earth are located. So, for example, Marianskaya has a depth of eleven thousand thirty-four meters. The territory on which the largest ocean is located includes thousands of scattered islands, which are conditionally divided into two categories. The first group includes islands of volcanic origin (Japan, Hawaii, for example). Small Kuril and Aleutian islands form a "fire belt" in the northern part of the water area. Coral reefs belong to the second category. They are located along the equator. Coral islands owe their origin to the activity of polyps.
The area of the largest ocean is about one hundred eighty million square kilometers. The maximum wave height, which was officially recorded, is thirty-four meters. The volume of water in the Pacific Ocean is more than seven hundred twenty million cubic kilometers.
It should be noted that the fauna and flora of the water area is well developed. This is especially true between the Australian and Asian coasts. Here, vast territories are inhabited by coral reefs, as well as mangroves. About thirty species of flowering plants and more than four thousand diverse algae are concentrated in shallow water. Among them, even real giants come across, whose height is about two hundred meters.
Among more than two thousand species of fish, you can see the most ancient representatives, not found in other waters. Representatives of the fauna are often found in the Pacific. For example, tridacna lives here - a huge bivalve mollusk. Its weight reaches three hundred kilograms. You can also meet giant oysters.
About sixty percent of the world's total fish catch is in the Pacific. Among commercial ones, flounder, salmon, cod, perch, and herring-like ones should be noted. In the Pacific Ocean, invertebrates (mollusks, oysters, crabs), mammals (sperm whales, sea lions), plants (seaweed, for example) are being harvested. At the bottom of the great reservoir, mineral deposits are being developed. It produces tin, oil, gas, copper, nickel, cobalt, etc.
Of no less importance is the transit route that runs through the water area and connects a variety of countries, including Russia, China, Taiwan, the USA, Japan, Canada and others.