Where is the Atlantic Ocean

Short answer

• The Atlantic Ocean is the large body of salt water between the Americas on the west and Europe and Africa on the east. On a world map, it is the ocean in the middle, separating North and South America from Europe and Africa.
• It stretches from the Arctic region in the north to about 60 degrees south latitude in the south, on the modern boundary most maps now use for the Southern Ocean. Older definitions drew it all the way south to Antarctica.
• Its western shores belong to North America and South America. Its eastern shores belong to Europe and Africa. No part of the Atlantic proper touches Asia or Australia, although two of its marginal seas, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, reach toward Asia.
• The Equator divides it, by convention, into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is north of the Equator, and the South Atlantic is south of it.
• A useful map reference point, given by the CIA World Factbook, is 0 degrees north, 25 degrees west, in open water near the Equator, roughly midway across the ocean. It is a reference point, not a single destination.
• The Atlantic is the second largest ocean, after the Pacific Ocean, and it covers about one fifth of the surface of the Earth, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Its shape is, generally speaking, S shaped, and it is narrow in relation to its length.

Why the Simple Answer Needs More

The simplest correct answer is: the Atlantic Ocean is between the Americas and Europe and Africa. That sentence answers the question, but it leaves out the parts that confuse readers on a real map. The northern end does not stop neatly at a coastline, the southern end depends on which boundary convention a map uses, and the eastern side includes seas counted as part of the Atlantic system even though they look like separate seas. This article therefore walks around the ocean, side by side, and says where sources disagree, rather than picking one boundary and pretending that every map agrees. Britannica states plainly that there are no universally accepted boundary conventions for the Atlantic, especially in the north.

Reading the Shape on a Map

On a world map the Atlantic looks like a long, curving channel running roughly north to south. Britannica describes it as, generally speaking, S shaped and narrow in relation to its length, because the coastlines on both sides are not straight lines.

The narrowness is just as striking. Britannica gives the breadth between Newfoundland and Ireland as about 2,060 miles, or 3,320 kilometers. Farther south the ocean widens to more than 3,000 miles, or 4,800 kilometers, before narrowing again, so that the distance from Cape Sao Roque in Brazil to Cape Palmas in Liberia is only some 1,770 miles, or 2,850 kilometers. Southward it becomes broader again, and between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope it approaches its border with the Southern Ocean at 60 degrees south latitude on a broad front nearly 3,200 miles, or about 5,200 kilometers, wide.

The West Side: The Americas

The entire western side of the Atlantic belongs to the Americas. In the north, the coast runs from the Arctic region down the eastern side of North America, through the Labrador Sea and past Newfoundland, and then down the eastern seaboard of the United States to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. In the south, the coast runs down the eastern side of South America, from the northern coast of South America past Brazil and Uruguay and Argentina to the tip of the continent at Cape Horn.

Two points deserve attention. First, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are not separate oceans. They belong to the Atlantic system, and Britannica lists them among the tributary seas of the North Atlantic, along with the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay. Second, the Atlantic does not stop at the Panama Canal, a human made waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, not a natural border. The natural southwestern border is far to the south, through the Drake Passage. Britannica also notes that the North Atlantic is rich in islands and tributary seas, while the South Atlantic is bordered by simpler coasts almost without islands for much of its length.

The East Side: Europe and Africa

The entire eastern side of the Atlantic belongs to Europe in the north and Africa in the south. In the north, the coast runs from the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea past the British Isles and western Europe, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and then down the northwestern coast of Africa. In the south, it runs down the western coast of Africa, past the Gulf of Guinea and the bulge of western Africa, to the southern tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas.

The Strait of Gibraltar is the narrow gateway on this side. It is only about 8 miles, or 13 kilometers, wide at its narrowest point, according to Britannica, and it connects the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea, which in turn connects to the Black Sea. Britannica lists the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea among the tributary seas of the Atlantic on the eastern side. That is why a map that colors the Mediterranean in the same color as the Atlantic is not making a mistake: geographers count those seas as part of the Atlantic system. The Atlantic proper, however, borders only Europe and Africa on the east. It does not border Asia, although its marginal seas reach toward Asia.

The Northern Border: Where the Atlantic Meets the Arctic

The northern border is the least settled border of the Atlantic. Britannica states that various boundaries have been used to define particularly the northern, but also the southern, limits of the Atlantic, and that there are no universally accepted boundary conventions. In the north the situation is complicated by the fact that the Arctic Ocean is sometimes treated as a dependent sea of the Atlantic, because the Arctic basin is nearly surrounded by land and is relatively shallow. Britannica treats the Arctic Ocean as a separate entity, and this article follows that treatment.

In practical terms, the Atlantic connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Labrador Sea, the Denmark Strait, the Greenland Sea, and the Norwegian Sea, with the Barents Sea to the east. The northern divider in some definitions passes through Iceland and Svalbard, and National Geographic describes the Atlantic as stretching from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica. Britannica records two common shortcuts for the open water boundary: 65 degrees north and the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees 30 minutes north. It also records a less arbitrary method, drawing a line from Greenland to Iceland along the Greenland Iceland Rise, then to the Faroe Islands, and then northward to Norway near 70 degrees north. If one map ends the Atlantic at the Arctic Circle and another ends it farther north, neither map is necessarily wrong.

The Southern Border: Where the Atlantic Meets the Southern Ocean

The southern border is clearer than the northern border, but it still depends on a convention that changed during the twentieth century. The most widely accepted modern limit is 60 degrees south latitude, the northern boundary of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Britannica states that the Atlantic approaches that border on a broad front nearly 3,200 miles wide between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope.

Older definitions drew the Atlantic differently. The International Hydrographic Organization defined the limits of the oceans and seas in 1953, and in that definition the Atlantic extended south to Antarctica. In later maps it is bounded at the 60 degree parallel by the Southern Ocean. The CIA World Factbook background note records the same change: the decision in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean removed the portion of the Atlantic south of 60 degrees south latitude. A map from before that change may therefore color the waters all the way to Antarctica as Atlantic, while a modern map colors only the waters north of 60 degrees south as Atlantic.

The Southeast and Southwest Borders

In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean along a line of longitude, not a coastline. Britannica states that the most widely accepted limit is a line running south from Cape Agulhas, at the southern tip of Africa, along the 20 degrees east meridian to the 60 degrees south parallel. Cape Agulhas is not the same place as the Cape of Good Hope, which lies to the northwest of it and is often mistaken for the southern tip. In reality the water does not change color at the line, but for mapping and description, the line is the accepted convention.

In the southwest, the Atlantic meets the Pacific Ocean through the Drake Passage. Britannica states that the boundary passes through the Drake Passage between Cape Horn at the tip of South America and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The International Hydrographic Organization limits for the South Atlantic, as reproduced in reference summaries, draw the western limit northward along the meridian of 67 degrees 16 minutes west to Cape Horn, and then northward along the eastern coast of South America. That detailed line agrees with the simpler Britannica description: the oceans meet at the southern end of South America, not at Panama and not in the Caribbean.

The North Atlantic and the South Atlantic

Geographers divide the Atlantic at the Equator into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean. Britannica Kids states this division plainly, and the CIA World Factbook geography note states the same division. The division is conventional, not physical. There is no wall of water at the Equator, and currents cross it. Some popular summaries describe a practical current boundary near 8 degrees north, linked to the Equatorial Counter Current, but that is not the International Hydrographic Organization division, and this article does not use it as the main division. The North Atlantic is crowded with islands, bays, gulfs, and tributary seas, and it holds the Gulf Stream, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Sargasso Sea. The South Atlantic is simpler in outline, with long coasts and far fewer islands. National Geographic notes that the North Atlantic and South Atlantic each have distinct ocean currents that influence weather around the world.

Size, Depth, and the Problem of Counting Seas

The Atlantic is the second largest ocean, after the Pacific, on every major source used here, and Britannica adds that it covers approximately one fifth of the surface of the Earth. The exact area depends on which seas are counted, so each figure is given with its counting rule. Britannica gives the area without its dependent seas as approximately 31,568,000 square miles, or 81,760,000 square kilometers, and with them as about 32,870,000 square miles, or 85,133,000 square kilometers. The CIA World Factbook copies consulted here give a total of 76,762,000 square kilometers, including the Baltic, Black, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and North Seas, the Gulf of Mexico, the Labrador, Davis, Denmark, and Norwegian waters, part of the Drake Passage, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies. The Factbook total is smaller because it includes a different set of water bodies. Quote the figure together with its source and its inclusion rule.

The same care applies to coastline and depth. The Factbook copies give a coastline of 111,866 kilometers, including the marginal seas listed above. Britannica gives an average depth, with its seas, of 11,962 feet, or 3,646 meters, and the Factbook copies give a mean depth of minus 3,646 meters. For the deepest point, Britannica gives 27,493 feet, or 8,380 meters, in the Puerto Rico Trench, north of the island of Puerto Rico, while Factbook copies give Milwaukee Deep in that trench at minus 8,605 meters. Depth estimates differ by source and survey, so this article reports both figures with their sources.

The Seafloor: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The most important feature of the Atlantic seafloor is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Britannica calls it the outstanding feature of the Atlantic floor: an immense median mountain range extending throughout the length of the Atlantic, claiming the center third of the ocean bed, and reaching roughly 1,000 miles, or 1,600 kilometers, in breadth. It is the Atlantic portion of a world encircling oceanic ridge system. In some places the ridge rises above sea level to form islands. Iceland, rising from the crest, is the best known example, split by an extension of the median rift valley. Britannica Kids adds volcanic examples, including the Cabo Verde Islands near Africa and Bermuda near North America, and notes that Great Britain and the Falkland Islands are parts of the same land as nearby continents rather than volcanic ridge islands. East and west of the ridge lie deep basins, about 12,000 to 18,000 feet, or 3,700 to 5,500 meters, below sea level, with abyssal plains, hills, and seamounts.

Currents and Gyres: The Water in Motion

The Atlantic is organized into large circulating systems called gyres. The CIA World Factbook copies consulted here describe two gyres: in the northern Atlantic the gyre moves clockwise, and in the southern Atlantic it moves counterclockwise. The clockwise North Atlantic Gyre consists of the northward flowing, warm Gulf Stream in the west, the eastward flowing North Atlantic Current in the north, the southward flowing, cold Canary Current in the east, and the westward flowing North Equatorial Current in the south. The counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre consists of the southward flowing, warm Brazil Current in the west, the eastward flowing South Atlantic Current in the south, the northward flowing, cold Benguela Current in the east, and the westward flowing South Equatorial Current in the north.

National Geographic adds the deeper picture: the ocean moves like a conveyor belt driven by changes in temperature and salinity. Warm water from the Gulf Stream, originating in the Gulf of Mexico, moves north, forces cooler water to sink and move south, and upwelling near Antarctica pushes cold water back to the surface. Scientists estimate the conveyor takes about 500 years to make one trip, a reported estimate, not a measured timetable. The Gulf Stream also helps explain why western Europe is milder than other places at the same latitude. In the tropics, the Factbook notes, hurricanes develop off Africa near Cabo Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea, from May to December, most frequently from August to November.

The Sargasso Sea and the Seas Within the Ocean

One Atlantic sea breaks the usual rule that a sea touches land. The Sargasso Sea is a region in the middle of the North Atlantic that has no coastline at all. It is bounded not by land but by currents: the Gulf Stream on the west, the North Atlantic Current on the north, the Canary Current on the east, and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current on the south. Those four currents form the North Atlantic Gyre, and the Sargasso Sea sits in the calm center of that gyre. It is named for sargassum, a floating brown seaweed that gathers in its calm, blue waters and provides habitat for shrimp, crabs, fish, and other marine species, according to summaries of the Sargasso Sea Commission.

The other seas are more conventional. On the west, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Hudson Bay, and Baffin Bay belong to the North Atlantic system, along with the Labrador Sea and the Davis Strait. On the east, the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea belong to the same system, along with the Norwegian Sea. In the south, the Scotia Sea lies near the Drake Passage. A map labeling all of these as Atlantic seas uses the broad system definition, while a map labeling only the open water as Atlantic uses the narrow proper definition.

The Name, and How People Use the Ocean

The name Atlantic comes from Greek mythology. Britannica states that it means the Sea of Atlas, the Titan who held up the sky. It does not mean that the ocean belongs to any one country, and it is not the same as Atlantis, the legendary island of Plato. For centuries the Atlantic has been a key avenue of trade and travel, as National Geographic puts it, and the Factbook background note states that it provides some of the most heavily trafficked sea routes in the world. That role follows from its location, with a narrow northern crossing that is one of the shortest ocean crossings between major population centers. In its northern reaches, the Factbook copies note, icebergs are common in the Davis Strait, the Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic from February to August, spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands, while fog can be a hazard from May to September.

How to Describe the Location

For a one line answer, write: The Atlantic Ocean lies between the Americas to the west and Europe and Africa to the east, from the Arctic region to about 60 degrees south.

For a map exercise, trace the borders in order: north through the Labrador Sea, the Denmark Strait, the Greenland Sea, and the Norwegian Sea; down the west side through North America and South America to Cape Horn; across the Drake Passage to 60 degrees south; east along that parallel to the 20 degrees east meridian south of Cape Agulhas; then north along Africa, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and up Europe to the Norwegian Sea.

For an essay, add the conventions: the Equator divides the North Atlantic from the South Atlantic, the 20 degrees east meridian from Cape Agulhas divides the Atlantic from the Indian Ocean, the Drake Passage divides the Atlantic from the Pacific, and the northern boundary with the Arctic is the least settled, with common lines at 65 degrees north, at the Arctic Circle, and along the Greenland Iceland and Faroe Iceland rises. For a school test, remember four bordering continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa), two latitude divisions (North Atlantic and South Atlantic), and four neighboring oceans (Arctic, Southern, Indian, and Pacific).

Common Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them

The Atlantic is only between Europe and North America. It is not. It also lies between Africa and South America.

The Atlantic touches Asia. It does not, in the strict sense. Its marginal seas reach toward Asia, but the Atlantic proper borders only Europe and Africa on the east.

The Atlantic reaches Antarctica on every modern map. It does not. On modern maps the waters south of 60 degrees south are the Southern Ocean. Older maps drew it all the way to Antarctica.

The Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and the Atlantic Indian boundary. It is not. Cape Agulhas is the southern tip used for the boundary, along the 20 degrees east meridian.

The Panama Canal is the Atlantic Pacific boundary. It is not. The canal is a human made shortcut across land. The natural boundary is through the Drake Passage.

The North Atlantic and the South Atlantic are separated by a wall at the Equator. They are not. The Equator is a conventional dividing line, and currents cross it.

The deepest point of the Atlantic is a single exact number. It is not. Britannica gives 8,380 meters for the Puerto Rico Trench, and Factbook copies give 8,605 meters for Milwaukee Deep within that trench. Quote the depth with its source.

Every sea with its own name is a separate ocean. It is not. The Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea are all part of the Atlantic system on the broad definition.

Timeline

• Greek myth: The name Atlantic, meaning the Sea of Atlas, comes from Greek mythology, according to Britannica.
• 1953: The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the oceans and seas, with the Atlantic extending south to Antarctica in that definition.
• Spring 2000: The decision to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removes the portion of the Atlantic south of 60 degrees south latitude, according to the CIA World Factbook background note.
• Modern maps: The Atlantic is bounded in the south by the Southern Ocean at 60 degrees south, in the southeast by the Indian Ocean along the 20 degrees east meridian from Cape Agulhas, and in the southwest by the Pacific Ocean through the Drake Passage.
• 2026: Britannica, as updated in 2026, gives the Atlantic area with its dependent seas as about 32,870,000 square miles, or 85,133,000 square kilometers, with an average depth of 11,962 feet, or 3,646 meters, and a maximum depth of 27,493 feet, or 8,380 meters, in the Puerto Rico Trench.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Atlantic Ocean? Between the Americas to the west and Europe and Africa to the east, stretching from the Arctic region in the north to about 60 degrees south in the south on modern maps.

What countries border the Atlantic Ocean? This article does not list every coastal country, because the Atlantic borders dozens of countries on four continents. The safe answer is by continent: North America and South America on the west, and Europe and Africa on the east.

Is the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Europe? Partly. The North Atlantic lies between eastern North America, including the United States, and western Europe. The whole Atlantic also lies between South America and Africa.

Where does the Atlantic Ocean end in the north? There is no single universally accepted northern line. Common lines are 65 degrees north, the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees 30 minutes north, and the Greenland Iceland and Faroe Iceland rises to Norway near 70 degrees north.

Where does the Atlantic Ocean end in the south? On modern maps, at 60 degrees south latitude, where the Southern Ocean begins. In the 1953 International Hydrographic Organization definition it extended south to Antarctica.

What is the difference between the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic? The Equator divides them by convention. The North Atlantic is north of the Equator and the South Atlantic is south of it. The North Atlantic is richer in islands, bays, and tributary seas, while the South Atlantic has simpler coasts with far fewer islands, according to Britannica.

Which ocean is next to the Atlantic in the southeast? The Indian Ocean. The boundary is the 20 degrees east meridian running south from Cape Agulhas, at the southern tip of Africa, to the 60 degrees south parallel, according to Britannica.

Which ocean is next to the Atlantic in the southwest? The Pacific Ocean. The boundary passes through the Drake Passage between Cape Horn at the tip of South America and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to Britannica.

Is the Caribbean Sea part of the Atlantic Ocean? Yes, on the broad Atlantic system definition. The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are tributary seas of the North Atlantic, according to Britannica.

What is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean? The Puerto Rico Trench, north of Puerto Rico. Britannica gives 27,493 feet, or 8,380 meters, while Factbook copies give Milwaukee Deep within that trench as 8,605 meters. Quote the figure with its source.

What is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? An immense undersea mountain range down the middle of the Atlantic, claiming the center third of the ocean bed and reaching roughly 1,000 miles, or 1,600 kilometers, in breadth, according to Britannica. Iceland rises from its crest.

Is the Atlantic the largest ocean? No. It is the second largest ocean, after the Pacific Ocean, according to Britannica, National Geographic, and the CIA World Factbook. It covers about one fifth of the surface of the Earth, according to Britannica.

Sources & references

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Atlantic Ocean article, opened 27 October 2026. Covers the Atlantic as a body of salt water covering approximately one fifth of the surface of the Earth, separating Europe and Africa to the east from North and South America to the west, the Sea of Atlas name origin, second in size to the Pacific, S shape, area without and with dependent seas, average and maximum depth in the Puerto Rico Trench, breadths between Newfoundland and Ireland, between Cape Sao Roque and Cape Palmas, and between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, tributary seas on both sides, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Strait of Gibraltar width, the 60 degrees south southern boundary, the 20 degrees east boundary from Cape Agulhas, the Drake Passage boundary, northern boundary conventions and the Greenland Iceland and Faroe Iceland rises, and the contrast between the island rich North Atlantic and the simpler South Atlantic coasts.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica Kids, Atlantic Ocean article, consulted 27 October 2026 via search result text. Covers the Atlantic reaching Europe and Africa to the east and North America and South America to the west, extending from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica in the south, the Equator dividing the North Atlantic from the South Atlantic, the Puerto Rico Trench depth, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland, the Cabo Verde Islands, Bermuda, Great Britain, and the Falkland Islands.
• National Geographic, The Atlantic Ocean, facts and information, opened 27 October 2026. Covers the Atlantic stretching from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, bordered by the Americas to the west and Europe and Africa to the east, second largest ocean after the Pacific, the north and south division with distinct currents, the Gulf Stream originating in the Gulf of Mexico, the conveyor belt driven by temperature and salinity, the estimate of about 500 years for one conveyor trip, and the Atlantic as a key avenue of trade and travel.
• CIA World Factbook, Atlantic Ocean geography, consulted 27 October 2026 via archived and mirror copies of the Factbook entry, with figures consistent across the copies consulted. Covers the location as a body of water between Africa, Europe, the Arctic Ocean, the Americas, and the Southern Ocean, geographic coordinates 0 degrees north, 25 degrees west, total area 76,762,000 square kilometers with its listed included seas, coastline 111,866 kilometers, mean depth minus 3,646 meters, lowest point Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench at minus 8,605 meters, clockwise North Atlantic Gyre and counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre with their named currents, tropical cyclone season and track, iceberg and fog hazards, and the background note on the Southern Ocean decision and the Equator division.
• International Hydrographic Organization, Limits of Oceans and Seas, 1953 definition, as summarized by Encyclopaedia Britannica and by reference summaries consulted 27 October 2026. Covers the 1953 Atlantic extension south to Antarctica, the later bounding at the 60 degree parallel by the Southern Ocean, the 20 degrees east meridian from Cape Agulhas as the Atlantic Indian boundary, and the South Atlantic western limit along the meridian of 67 degrees 16 minutes west to Cape Horn.
• Sargasso Sea Commission, Oceanographic Characteristics summary, consulted 27 October 2026 via search result text. Covers the Sargasso Sea currents, the trapping of water at the core of the sea, and the concentration of sargassum, plastics, and other pollutants in the gyre center.