What's the difference in an ocean and a sea?

Question

Is it geographiacal, based on water volume, surrounding land mass or other requirements?

Answer 1

Size is important, Oceans ARE bigger than seas, ( smallest ocean Arctic 5,427,000 sq miles, largest sea Mediterranean 1,144,800 sq mi). But a sea is more or less enclosed and separated from the larger ocean by land.

The Mediterranean is completely surrounded by land with only the Straits of Gibraltar as an outlet, while the Bering Sea is separated from the Pacific to the south by only a narrow string of widely spaced islands. Seas generally are larger than gulfs, ( also "more or less enclosed and separated from the larger body of water by land.") but the Gulf of Mexico,615,000 sq mi ,is larger than the East China Sea, 482,300. Gulfs and seas are larger than bays (again "more or less enclosed and separated from the larger body of water by land.") "but The Bay of Bengal, 1,300,000 square miles is larger than the Mediterranean . A large inland saline lake without an outlet or connection to a larger body is also called a sea, such as the Caspian Sea, 152,239 square miles.. The Caspian, though saline and no outlet, is sometimes considered to be the world's largest LAKE, Lake Superior,largest fresh water body and with an outlet, 31,820 sq mi , is larger than the saline Dead Sea, 394 square miles. The Sea of Galilee is a small freshwater lake with a natural outlet, but it's called Sea anyway. Sometimes it's just a matter of what people call it, sea?

Answer 2

The words ocean and sea are used interchangeably, yet a sea is a body of water that is much smaller than an ocean. The term "seven seas" was used by the Mohammedan explorers before the 15th century. The "seven seas" included the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, East African Sea, West African Sea, and China Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. In modern times, it has become common to divide the world's oceans into seven parts to retain this legendary number. The popular and accepted division today is the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian and Antarctic Oceans.

Answer 3

its a small part of an ocean i think it might be closed off by land or it can be either way

Answer 4

One is derived from the English, one is derived from the Norse. They got together like the Brady bunch and ****** all the maps up. :) Enjoy a Coke!

Answer 5

the ocean is bigger and in not small spaces between land.

Answer 6

size

Answer 7

the same between pond and lake.