Which ocean washes mainland Australia? Or even which ones? This question is probably asked by every student and even many adults. Everyone knows that Australia is the only mainland state, but few can boast of knowledge of the geographical features of this country. Not everyone even correctly calls the capital of Australia, thinking that it is the largest city. But what kind of scholar can still correctly and unequivocally answer the question of which oceans wash Australia?
One ocean? Two? Or all the same three?
The answer to the question of which oceans wash Australia may vary depending on the approach. So, in many countries it is considered that two are Indian and Pacific. But few people know that there is another ocean washing Australia - the South. Its waters conditionally include parts of three oceans at the same time - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian. However, not all cartographers agree with this. Many people believe that the waters that wash Antarctica should not be allocated into a separate body of water, the borders of which, by the way, are very arbitrary.
What oceans wash Australia
As mentioned above, the continent of Australia is washed by three oceans - the Indian, Pacific and South. As for the first, everything is clear, it is in contact with the mainland in the north and east, and, accordingly, the west and south of Australia are washed by the Indian Ocean. At least that is what the majority thinks. But what about the third, the Southern Ocean? Everything is a bit confusing here.
One ocean, two ocean, three ocean, four ocean ... all?
Now you know which oceans wash Australia, but why then is it generally accepted abroad that there are three of them? From the school geography course, every student learns that there are four oceans in the world : the Arctic Ocean (the smallest, located between Eurasia and North America), the Pacific (the largest, located between Eurasia and Australia), the Atlantic (located between Iceland and Greenland) and finally, Indian (it immediately washed Africa, Australia, Antarctica and Asia).
The ocean or not the ocean - that’s the question
However, in 2000, a new ocean appeared. How? Fortunately or unfortunately, magic is not involved here. It was simply decided to single out another ocean from the already existing world waters, although today not everyone agrees with this situation and the introduction of such innovations in geography. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that it washes Antarctica, and its other end side is the 60th parallel. This is the fourth ocean in area, which, unlike others, has no land border in the north.
Do we need the Southern Ocean
Why, it would seem, to allocate a new ocean, if in fact its waters flow into three other oceans? Why not classify these waters as a continuation of their respective sources? This leads to the fact that it is difficult for people to unequivocally answer the question of which oceans wash Australia.
One of the main reasons for this decision is the differences in the composition of water, which are provoked by the Antarctic current, which stimulates the circulation of water masses around Antarctica.
Free reasoning
Now that you know which oceans wash Australia, you should still think about how to deal with the South. Despite the fact that in some foreign countries it is customary to recognize the presence of the fifth ocean, in most CIS countries it is still ignored. It is difficult to say what this is due to and whether it will change once, but in reality it has little effect on the state of affairs, nothing depends on this. Although when you consider that the composition of the water in this area is significantly different from other oceans, the separation of the Southern Ocean seems quite appropriate.