Which ocean washes mainland Australia? Or even what? Probably every student and even many adults ask this question. Everyone knows that Australia is the only mainland state, but few can boast of knowing the geographical features of this country. Not everyone even correctly calls the capital of Australia, thinking that it is the largest city. But what erudite can still correctly and unambiguously answer the question of what oceans wash Australia?
One ocean? Two? Or is it 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 there are two - 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 singled out as a separate body of water, the boundaries of which, by the way, are very arbitrary.
Which oceans wash the shores of Australia
As mentioned above, the continent of Australia is washed by three oceans - 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's what most people think. But what about the third, the Southern Ocean? This is where things get a little more complicated.
One ocean, two oceans, three oceans, four oceans…everything?
Now you know which oceans wash Australia, but why then is it considered abroad that there are still three of them? From the school geography course, each student learns that there are four oceans in the world: the Arctic (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 (washes Africa, Australia, Antarctica and Asia at once).
Ocean or not ocean, that is the question
However, in 2000, a new ocean appeared. How? Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no magic involved. 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 this kind of innovation in geography. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that it washes Antarctica, and its other end side is the 60th parallel. It is the fourth largest oceanwhich, unlike the 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 extensions of their respective sources? This leads to the fact that it is difficult for people to unambiguously answer the question of which oceans wash Australia.
One of the main reasons for this decision is the differences in the composition of the water, which are provoked by the Antarctic current, which stimulates the circulation of water masses around Antarctica.
Reasoning on a free topic
Now that you know which oceans wash Australia, you should still think about what to do with the South. Despite the fact that in some foreign countries it is customary to recognize the existence of a fifth ocean, in most CIS countries it is still ignored. It is difficult to say what caused this and whether it will ever change, but in reality it has little effect on the state of affairs, nothing depends on it. Although given that the composition of the water in this area is significantly different from other oceans, then the separation of the Southern Ocean seems quite appropriate.
