What is the world's smallest ocean?

The Arctic Ocean is the world’s smallest ocean. It covers approximately 14.1 million square kilometres around the North Pole and is also the shallowest of the five recognized oceans.

The ocean is surrounded by Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and Iceland. Its boundaries connect with the Pacific through the Bering Strait and with the Atlantic around the Greenland–Scotland ridge. Sea ice covers much of the Arctic Ocean year-round, while winter brings nearly complete ice coverage across the central basin, though the extent changes seasonally.

A common mix-up is to treat the Arctic as merely part of the Atlantic or as a frozen continent like Antarctica. It is an ocean basin covered by floating sea ice, and the surrounding land belongs to several countries. Some oceanographers use terms such as “Arctic Mediterranean Sea” or “North Polar Sea,” but the International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean. Its average depth is about 1,038 metres.