World Map with Oceans and Seas
World Map with Oceans and Seas
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The world map with oceans and seas is a printable map of the world that names all five oceans and the major seas, drawn over shaded ocean floor so the basins, ridges and trenches show through. It comes in three free versions as a JPG and a PDF, each with a high-resolution edition, and the three are also sold together as a bundle.
The water is the subject here rather than the background: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans are named on every version, along with the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the South China Sea, the Bering Sea, the Weddell Sea and dozens more, plus the named basins and ridges beneath them.
It pairs well with our geography worksheets, and with the printable blank world map when the exercise is about countries rather than water. For continents, see the world map with continents.
The image below shows the printable world map with the oceans and seas named.
Which Version Should You Download?
All three free versions name the same oceans and seas. What changes is what happens on land.
| Version | What is on the land | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free Labeled Map | Country borders and country names, so the whole map is a reference sheet | Looking things up, and connecting a sea to the countries around it |
| Free Blank Map | Country borders drawn, but the countries are not named. The water is still fully named | Exercises where students name the countries while the oceans stay available as reference points |
| Free Only Waters | No borders at all. Just coastlines, with the world's major rivers and lakes drawn in | Rivers, drainage and water-cycle lessons, where borders would only get in the way |
Each of the three is also available on its own as a high-resolution file in PNG, JPG and PDF, and all three high-resolution maps come together in the value bundle.
The Five Oceans
Water covers about 71 percent of the Earth's surface, some 361 million square kilometres, and it is divided into five ocean basins that are wildly unequal: the Pacific alone is larger than the other four put together minus the Atlantic.
| Ocean | Area | Average depth | Deepest point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific | 165.2 million km2 | about 4,280 m | Mariana Trench, 10,935 m |
| Atlantic | 85.1 million km2 | about 3,646 m | Puerto Rico Trench, 8,376 m |
| Indian | 70.6 million km2 | about 3,741 m | Sunda Trench, 7,290 m |
| Southern | 21.9 million km2 | about 3,270 m | South Sandwich Trench, 7,434 m |
| Arctic | 15.6 million km2 | about 1,205 m | Molloy Deep, 5,550 m |
The Southern Ocean is the newcomer: it was only formally recognised as a fifth ocean in 2000, and it is defined by a current rather than by coastlines, which is why plenty of older maps show four. The Arctic is both the smallest and by far the shallowest, which is part of why it freezes.
Ocean or Sea? And What Are the Seven Seas?
A sea is smaller than an ocean, usually partly enclosed by land, and counts as a subdivision of the ocean it opens into. That is the rule, and the exceptions are the interesting part.
The ten largest seas, and the ones that break the rules (click to reveal)
| Sea | Area | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Philippine Sea | 5.7 million km2 | Western Pacific |
| Coral Sea | 4.8 million km2 | Off north-east Australia |
| Arabian Sea | 3.9 million km2 | Northern Indian Ocean |
| South China Sea | 3.5 million km2 | Western Pacific |
| Weddell Sea | 2.8 million km2 | Southern Ocean, off Antarctica |
| Caribbean Sea | 2.8 million km2 | Western Atlantic |
| Mediterranean Sea | 2.5 million km2 | Between Europe, Africa and Asia |
| Tasman Sea | 2.3 million km2 | Between Australia and New Zealand |
| Bay of Bengal | 2.2 million km2 | Northern Indian Ocean |
| Bering Sea | 2.0 million km2 | Northern Pacific |
The Sargasso Sea has no coastline at all: it is bounded by four ocean currents rather than by land, the only sea defined that way. The Caspian Sea is not a sea but the largest lake on Earth, landlocked and salty enough to have kept the name. And the Dead Sea is a lake too, nearly ten times saltier than ocean water.
The Seven Seas is an old phrase rather than a fixed list. Medieval European traders meant the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Caspian, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf; today it is usually taken to mean the world's oceans, counting the Atlantic and Pacific as north and south halves.
About the World's Water
The oceans hold about 97 percent of all the water on Earth and drive the climate of every continent, moving heat from the equator towards the poles through currents that take roughly a thousand years to complete a full circuit. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, drawn on these maps along with the other major ridges, is the longest mountain range on the planet at around 16,000 kilometres, almost all of it underwater. The Mariana Trench reaches 10,935 metres down, deep enough to swallow Everest with two kilometres to spare, and the average depth of the ocean is about 3,700 metres, far deeper than most maps make it look. Rivers connect all of it to the land: the Amazon alone delivers about a fifth of all the fresh water that reaches the sea. Those are the features these maps are used to teach, which is why the water is named in as much detail as the land.
World Map with Oceans and Seas Features
- Three free versions in high-resolution JPG and PDF
- All five oceans and the major seas named on every version
- Shaded ocean floor with the major basins, ridges and trenches named
- A version with country names, one with borders only, and one with rivers and lakes instead of borders
- High-resolution editions of each version in PNG, JPG and PDF, plus a bundle of all three
- Prints cleanly at A4 and US Letter; use a high-resolution file for A3 and above
- Suitable for geography lessons, labelling exercises, reports, travel planning and design work
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions people ask most about the free world map with oceans and seas.
How many oceans are there?
Five: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. The Southern Ocean was only formally recognised in 2000, which is why some older maps and textbooks still list four. All five are named on every version of this map.
What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?
A sea is smaller than an ocean and usually partly enclosed by land, and it counts as a subdivision of the ocean it opens into: the Mediterranean belongs to the Atlantic, the South China Sea to the Pacific. Two famous exceptions are the Caspian and the Dead Sea, which are lakes, and the Sargasso Sea, which is bounded by currents instead of coastline.
Which of the three free versions should I choose?
Take the Free Labeled Map if you want the countries named as well as the water. Take the Free Blank Map if you want the country borders drawn but the countries left for students to fill in. Take Free Only Waters if you want no borders at all, with the world's rivers and lakes drawn instead.
Can I print the map at A4 size?
Yes, the free files print cleanly at A4 and at US Letter. For A3, a wall chart or a poster, use one of the high-resolution editions, which come as PNG as well as JPG and PDF.
Is the world map with oceans and seas free to download?
Yes, all three versions are free in JPG and PDF, with no sign-up. Only the high-resolution editions and the three-map bundle carry a price.
How to Get Your Printable Map
- Choose the version you want above.
- Click "Download now" for a free map, or add a high-resolution version or the bundle to your cart.
- Get your files instantly, then print or annotate them.
Who It's For
Students learning the oceans and seas, teachers setting labelling exercises, homeschooling parents, and anyone who needs the world's water named on one printable sheet.
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