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 - - - -
North Atlantic Ocean 1 23 B 1A
South Atlantic Ocean 4 32 C 2A
Baltic Sea 2 1 B26 7B
Indian Ocean 5 45 F 6A
Mediterranean Sea 3.1 28 B11 -
Eastern Mediterranean 3.1.2 28 B - 8E
Western Mediterranean 3.1.1 28 A - 8W
Pacific Ocean - - - -
North Pacific Ocean 7 57 D 3A
South Pacific Ocean 8 61 E 4A
South China and Eastern Archipelagic Seas 6 49, 48 D18 plus others 3U
plus others
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
East Siberian Sea 9.1 11 A6 5S
Laptev Sea 9.2 10 A5 5P
Kara Sea 9.3 9 A4 5K
Barents Sea 9.4 7 A2 5B
White Sea 9.5 8 A3 5W
North Greenland Sea 9.6 - - -
Norwegian Sea 9.7 6 B30 5N
Iceland Sea 9.8 - - -
Davis Strait 9.9 15 B2 1V
Hudson Strait 9.10 16 A A15 1U
Hudson Bay 9.11 16 A10 1H
Baffin Bay 9.12 14 A A12 1P
Lincoln Sea 9.13 17 A A13 5L
Northwest Passages
(Northwest Passage, Northwestern Passages) 9.14 14 A9 5T
Beaufort Sea 9.15 13 A8 5U
Chukchi Sea 9.16 12 A7 5C
James Bay - - A11 -
Kane Basin - - A14 -
ATLANTIC OCEAN
(see North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean) - - - -
BALTIC SEA 2 1 B26 7B
Gulf of Bothnia 2.1 1 (a) B29 7T
Gulf of Finland 2.2 1 (b) B28 7F
Gulf of Riga 2.3 1 (c) B27 7H
The Sound 2.4 2 - -
The Great Belt 2.5 2 - -
The Little Belt 2.6 2 - -
Kattegat 2.7 2 B25 7K
INDIAN OCEAN 5 45 F 6A
Mozambique Channel 5.1 45 A F1 6Z
Gulf of Suez 5.2 35 F5 6W
Gulf of Aqaba 5.3 36 - 6Q
Red Sea 5.4 37 F4 6E
Gulf of Aden 5.5 38 F3 6D
Persian Gulf
(Gulf of Iran) 5.6 41 F7 6P
Gulf of Oman 5.7 40 F6 6M
Arabian Sea 5.8 39 F2 6R
Laccadive Sea (Lakshadweep Sea) 5.9 42 F9 6L
Gulf of Mannar 5.10 - F8 -
Palk Strait and Palk Bay 5.11 - - -
Bay of Bengal 5.12 43 F10 6B
Andaman Sea (Burma Sea) 5.13 44 F11 6N
Strait of Malacca (Malacca Strait) 5.14 46 (a) F12 6C
Great Australian Bight 5.15 62 F21 6G
Suez Canal - - - 6U
MEDITERRANEAN REGION 3 - - -
Mediterranean Sea 3.1 28 B11 -
Mediterranean Sea, Western Basin 3.1.1 28 A - 8W
Strait of Gibraltar 3.1.1.1 28 (a) B7 8S
Alboran Sea 3.1.1.2 28 (b) - 8Y
Balearic Sea (Balear Sea, Iberian Sea) 3.1.1.3 28 (c) B9 8J
Ligurian Sea (Ligure Sea) 3.1.1.4 28 (d) B10 8L
Tyrrhenian Sea (Tirreno Sea) 3.1.1.5 28 (e) B12 8T
Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Basin 3.1.2 28 B - 8E
Adriatic Sea 3.1.2.1 28 (g) B14 8D
Strait of Sicily (Strait of Sicilia) 3.1.2.2 - - -
Ionian Sea 3.1.2.3 28 (f) B13 8N
Aegean Sea 3.1.2.4 28 (h) B15 8G
Sea of Marmara 3.2 29 B16 8M
Black Sea 3.3 30 B17 8B
Sea of Azov 3.4 31 B18 8Z
Gulf of Lion (Gulf of Lions) - - B8 8X
Aral Sea - - - 8R
Bosporus - - - 8P
Caspian Sea - - - 8C
Dardanelles - - - 8U
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 1 23 B 1A
Skagerrak 1.1 3 B24 1S
North Sea 1.2 4 B23 1N
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland 1.3 18 - 1K
Irish Sea and Saint Georges Channel 1.4 19 B22 1R, 1Q
Bristol Channel 1.5 20 B21 1C
Celtic Sea 1.6 21 A - -
English Channel 1.7 21 B20 1E
Bay of Biscay 1.8 22 B19 1B
Canarias Sea 1.9 - - -
Gulf of Guinea 1.1 34 C4 1G
Caribbean Sea 1.11 27 B6 1X
Gulf of Mexico 1.12 26 B5 1M
Bay of Fundy 1.13 25 B4 1F
Gulf of Saint Lawrence 1.14 24 B3 1T
Labrador Sea 1.15 15 A - 1L
Greenland Sea 1.16 5 A1 5G
Denmark Strait - - B1 1D
Lake Erie - - - 9E
Lake Huron - - - 9H
Lake Michigan - - - 9M
Lake Ontario - - - 9N
Lake Superior - - - 9S
Panama Canal - - - 1J
Saint Lawrence Seaway - - - 9L