Bodies of Water:

  • Arabian Sea – The Arabian Sea is located at the northern end of the Indian Ocean, above the Laccadive Sea. It stretches from the Western Coast of India to the tip of the Horn of Africa and the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, while it’s northern edges are marked by the Arabian Peninsula and the inlet of the Gulf of Oman. Major island chains located in the Arabian Sea include the Lakshadweep Islands belonging to India and the Socotra Archipelago belonging to Yemen. Socotra is home to many endemic species and became a UNESCO World Heritage Sight 2008. Major cities located in the Arabian Sea include Mumbai (India), Kochi (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Gwadar (Pakistan) and Salalah (Oman). The largest river flowing into the Arabian Sea is the Indus at its delta near Karachi.
  • Baltic Sea – The Baltic Sea is a sea in Northern Europe that is surrounded by Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Baltic States, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Its western end is marked by the Skagerrak and Kattegat straits that connect it to the North Sea while its north and eastern ends extend into the Gulf of Finland, and the larger Gulf of Bothnia. The Baltic Sea consists of many islands and archipelagos such as the autonomous Åland Islands, the islands of Gotland and Öland belonging to Sweden and Saaremaa and Hiiumaa belonging to Estonia. The largest cities with access to the Baltic include Copenhagen (Denmark), Malmö and Stockholm (Sweden), Turku and Helsinki (Finland), Gdansk (Poland), Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Klaipeda (Lithuania) and the largest, Saint Petersburg (Russia). Due to its proximity to the North Pole, much of the Baltic Sea can freeze over the winters. Additionally, Russia also controls the exclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic which replaces Saint Petersburg as a major port during the winters.
  • Bering Sea – The Bering Sea is located in the Northern Pacific Ocean lying in between Russia and Alaska and is connected to the Chukchi Sea by the Bering Strait. The International Date Line passes through it and the southern edge of the Bering Sea is marked by multiple island chains. The most prominent being the Aleutian Islands that stretch from the Alaskan Peninsula and the Komandorskiye Islands that are closer to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The largest island in the Bering Sea is Saint Lawrence island belonging to the USA while the Diomede Islands are the closest point between Russia and the USA, separated only by 4 kilometres of water in the Bering Strait.
  • Black Sea – The Black Sea is almost completely surrounded by land except its two narrow openings at the Bosporus and Kerch Straits connecting it to the Sea of Marmara and Azov respectively. The Black Sea is famous for many resort towns on its coasts. Burgus and Varna in Bulgaria, Sochi in Russia, and Batumi in Georgia. The largest ports on the Black Sea are Constanta in Romania, Mykolaiv and Odessa in Ukraine and Sevastopol that lies in the disputed Crimea region. Along with the Crimean Peninsula, the region of Abkhazia in Georgia is another region of dispute that has a coast on the Black Sea. Additionally, both the Dnieper and Dniester rivers lead out into the Black Sea.
  • Caribbean Sea – The Caribbean Sea is located between North and South America. While its Western and Southern ends are bordered by Central and Southern America, its Northern End is marked by the Greater Antilles and the Eastern end is marked by the Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles are islands such as Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, while the Lesser Antilles stretch from Antigua and Barbuda to Trinidad and Tobago. Prominent islands to lie completely within the Caribbean Sea include Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and the ABC islands, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Cities located on the Caribbean coast include Caracas (Venezuela), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Kingston (Jamaica). Cancun, Mexico is also one of the most popular towns for tourists visiting the Caribbean Sea and a major river that empties out into the Caribbean is the Magdalena River.
  • Mediterranean Sea – The Mediterranean Sea lies in between Europe and Africa while also bordering countries in the Levant. The Western end of the Mediterranean Sea is at the Strait of Gibraltar and its Eastern ends are at the Dardanelles Strait in Turkey, and the Suez Canal. The Mediterranean Sea also branches out into many other seas, the most well known being the Adriatic, Aegean, Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. Major Islands in the Mediterranean are Mallorca and Ibiza belonging to the Spanish Balearic islands, Sardinia and Sicily belonging to Italy, Corsica belonging to France and Crete belonging to Greece. There are also two independent island nations in the Mediterranean, Malta and Cyprus. The largest cities from nations bordering the Mediterranean are- Barcelona, Malaga and Valencia (Spain), Marseille and Nice (France), Naples, Genoa and Palermo (Italy), Athens (Greece), Antalya (Turkey), Valletta (Malta), Beirut (Lebanon), Tel Aviv and Haifa (Israel), Alexandria (Egypt), Benghazi and Tripoli (Libya), Tunis and Sfax (Tunisia) and Algiers (Algeria). 
  • North Sea – The North Sea is located towards the Northwest of mainland Europe, enclosed by the Eastern coast of the island of Great Britain, Northwestern Europe, the Jutland peninsula and Norway. Towards the north, it borders the Norwegian Sea and is connected to the Celtic Sea by the English Channel, and to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat Straits. Island chains that lie in the North Sea include the Frisian islands near the Dutch and German coasts, and the Shetland Islands that lie to the north of Scotland. The North Sea is also home to many oil and gas reserves which has led to the construction of many oil rigs. The largest port on the North Sea is Rotterdam (Netherlands), also Europe’s largest port. The largest and notable rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe, Rhine and the Thames. 
  • Red Sea – The Red Sea is located in the narrow region between the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent. Its northern end splits into the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Its southern end is marked by the Bab-Al-Mandab strait that connects it to the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Suez eventually leads to the Suez Canal, joining the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Notable island chains in the Red Sea include the Farasan Islands belonging to Saudi Arabia, the Dahlak archipelago belonging to Eritrea and Yemen controlling the Zubair and Hanish island groups. The Red Sea coast is also home to many resort towns such as Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Other prominent cities being Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Port Sudan (Sudan).
  • Sea of Japan – The Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, is located in between the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Archipelago, South-East Russia and Sakhalin. The Northern end is connected to the Sea of Okhotsk via the La Perouse Strait and the Southern end is connected to the East China Sea via the Tsushima Strait. While there are no major islands lying in the Sea of Japan, many rivers flow into it, the most notable being the Tumen River at the Russian and North Korean border. In recent years, North Korea has used the Sea of Japan for multiple missile tests. Cities that have access to the Sea of Japan include Niigata and Sapporo in Japan and Vladivostok in Russia.
  • Arctic Ocean – The Arctic Ocean is located near the geographical north pole of the Earth and a majority of it lies within the Arctic Circle. It is the smallest of the five oceans of the world and also the coldest, meaning that it is covered in sea ice for a majority of the year. The Eurasian and North American land masses border either side of the Arctic Ocean while its ends are considered as the Bering Strait and across to the Davis Strait and the Norwegian Sea. Major seas that make up the Arctic Ocean include the Norwegian, Greenland, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Major islands in the Arctic Ocean include Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, the Queen Elizabeth Islands and the largest island in the world, Greenland.
  • Atlantic Ocean – The Atlantic Ocean is the world’s second largest ocean and is situated in between the American Continents and the Western Coasts of Europe and Africa. It stretches in the north till its boundary with the Arctic Ocean and extends to the Southern Ocean in the South. The Atlantic Ocean is usually divided into the North and South with the North Atlantic Ocean hosting the world’s busiest shipping routes. The Atlantic Ocean is also divided longitudinally into two parts by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Major island chains located in the Atlantic Ocean include the Azores, the Canary, the Falkland, the Sandwich Islands and the nation of Cape Verde. Other individual islands include Madeira, Saint Helena, Tristan Da Cunha and the aptly named Inaccessible Island.
  • Indian Ocean – The Indian Ocean is the third largest Ocean in the world and is located south of the Indian subcontinent, east of Africa while its eastern end stretches till the West coast of Tasmania and the South China Sea in its north-east. In the west, it borders the South Atlantic Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean in the east and the Southern Ocean to the south. The western half of the Indian Ocean is prone to the formation of many cyclones. Major islands in the Indian Ocean include Madagascar, Mauritius and Christmas Island. Island chains in the Indian Ocean include the Cocos Island and the Chagos Archipelago where the island of Diego Garcia is situated. The nations of Comoros and Seychelles are also made up of many islands within the Indian Ocean.
  • Pacific Ocean – The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean and the largest classified water body. Its Eastern end extends till the Western Coasts of the American continents and stretches towards the Eastern edge of Asia and Australia. The Pacific Ocean is also often classified into North and South regions and is the only non-polar ocean that has the International Date Line crossing through it. The edge of the Pacific Ocean is marked by the Pacific Ring of Fire which is home to much of the World’s geothermal activity and oceanic trenches including the Marianas Trench, the deepest point in the ocean floor. The volcanic islands stretch from the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, up north till the Kamchatka Peninsula and span the Western coast of the Americas. The Pacific Ocean also hosts many island chains and atolls which are divided into Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia and the islands of South-East Asia. Island chains of the Pacific lying outside these include the Galapagos Islands, Aleutian Islands, Kuril Islands and the Japanese archipelago.
  • Southern Ocean – The Southern Ocean is located entirely within the Antarctic Circle and is often also called the Antarctic Ocean. The Southern Ocean borders the pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans where the colder Antarctic waters mix with the warmer subantarctic waters. During winters in the Southern hemisphere, most of the water freezes up and makes up the winter extent of Antarctic sea ice. The most well-known seas of the Southern Ocean include the Weddell and Ross Seas while other large ones include the Lazarev, Somov, Cosmonauts and Riiser-Larsen Seas.
  • Bay of Bengal – The Bay of Bengal opens out into the Indian Ocean and is surrounded by the east coast of India, southern Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The eastern portion of the Bay of Bengal is separated from the Andaman Sea by the namesake Andaman and Nicobar Islands and separated from the laccadive Sea by Sri Lanka. Key cities and ports on the Bay of Bengal include Chennai (India), Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh). The northern end of the Bay of Bengal is also the location of the Ganges Delta and the Sundarban National Park.
  • Caspian Sea – The Caspian Sea, in contrast to its name, is the world’s largest inland water body. It is situated in between Central Asia and the Caucasus region. The countries surrounding the Caspian Sea include Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian Sea is not a complete freshwater body and for this reason is not always classified as a lake. The Caspian Sea is separated by a thin strip of land from the Garabogazkol Basin near Turkmenistan. Major cities lying on the Caspian coast include Baku (Azerbaijan), Makhachkala (Russia), Aktau (Kazakhstan) and Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan). The delta of the Volga, the longest river in Europe, is also located at the northern end of the Caspian Sea along with the Russian city of Astrakhan further inland.
  • Persian Gulf – The Persian Gulf is the water body enclosed by the Arabian Peninsula and the South-West coast of Iran. It is also connected to the Gulf of Oman via the Strait of Hormuz and eventually to the Arabian Sea. Countries on the coast of the Persian Gulf include Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Oman and Qatar making up the peninsula that extends into the gulf. The region is also home to many oil and gas fields, therefore many pipelines run throughout the gulf. The largest cities on the Gulf include: Dubai, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Dammam (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar), Manama (Bahrain), Kuwait City (Kuwait) and Bandar Abbas (Iran). Notable rivers that empty out into the Persian Gulf include the Tigris and the Euphrates. 
  • Aral Sea – The Aral Sea is a rapidly drying sea located in Central Asia within Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In 50 years, the Aral Sea has shrunk by 90% in its size due to former irrigation projects by the Soviet Union. Like the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea can also be classified as a lake and at one time was the fourth largest in the world. The most notable rivers emptying into the Aral are the Amu and Syr Darya rivers where the irrigation plans proved to be a failure. As the Aral shrunk, the island of Vozrozhdeniya formed in it before eventually becoming a part of the mainland.  
  • Dead Sea – The Dead Sea is also an endorheic lake, but is referred to as a sea due to its hypersalinity. It is shared between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian West Bank. It is also the lowest point on the Earth’s surface at 430 metres below sea-level. It’s hypersaline nature makes it possible to float on the surface of the Dead Sea. The Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea while also connecting it to the Sea of Galilee. Many salt evaporation pans have also been constructed in the Southern section of the Dead Sea in order to extract the salt.