IHO 23-4th: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication
23, Draft 4th Edition 1986, published by the International Hydrographic
Bureau of the International Hydrographic Organization
IHO 23-3rd: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication
23, 3rd Edition 1953, published by the International Hydrographic Organization
ACIC M 49-1: Chart of Limits of Seas and Oceans, revised
January 1958, published by the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center
(ACIC), United States Air Force; note - ACIC is now part of the National
Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
DIAM 65-18: Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features,
Data Standard No. 4, Defense Intelligence Agency Manual 65-18, December
1994, published by the Defense Intelligence Agency
The US Government has not yet adopted a standard for hydrographic codes
similar to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 10-4 country
codes. The names and limits of the following oceans and seas are not always
directly comparable because of differences in the customers, needs, and
requirements of the individual organizations. Even the number of principal
water bodies varies from organization to organization. Factbook
users, for example, find the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean entries
useful, but none of the following standards include those oceans in their
entirety. Nor is there any provision for combining codes or overcodes
to aggregate water bodies. The recently delimited Southern Ocean is not
included.
|
Principal Oceans and Seas of the World
With Hydrographic Codes by Institution
|
|
IHO 23-4th
|
IHO 23-3rd*
|
ACIC M 49-1
|
DIAM 65-18
|
Arctic Ocean
|
9
|
17
|
A
|
5A
|
Atlantic Ocean
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Baltic Sea
|
2
|
1
|
B26
|
7B
|
Eastern Mediterranean
|
3.1.2
|
28 B
|
-
|
8E
|
Indian Ocean
|
5
|
45
|
F
|
6A
|
Mediterranean Sea
|
3.1
|
28
|
B11
|
-
|
North Atlantic Ocean
|
1
|
23
|
B
|
1A
|
North Pacific Ocean
|
7
|
57
|
D
|
3A
|
Pacific Ocean
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
South Atlantic Ocean
|
4
|
32
|
C
|
2A
|
South China and Eastern Archipelagic Seas
|
6
|
49, 48
|
D18 plus others
|
3U plus others
|
South Pacific Ocean
|
8
|
61
|
E
|
4A
|
Western Mediterranean
|
3.1.1
|
28 A
|
-
|
8W
|
*The letters after the numbers are subdivisions, not footnotes.
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This page was last updated on 19 September, 2006
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