Which ocean is the smallest?

The smallest of the world’s five recognized oceans is the Arctic Ocean. It surrounds the North Pole and is bordered by Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and Iceland.

The Arctic Ocean covers roughly 14.06 million square kilometres, making it far smaller than the Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Pacific oceans. It is also the shallowest ocean, with much of its basin covered by sea ice for at least part of the year. Seasonal ice expands dramatically in winter and retreats during summer, although long-term warming has reduced Arctic sea ice.

The Arctic is connected to the Pacific Ocean through the narrow Bering Strait and to the Atlantic through passages around Greenland and the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. Its marginal seas include the Beaufort, Chukchi, Laptev, Kara, and Barents seas. Some oceanographers have called it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, but international geographic usage recognizes it as an ocean.

The Arctic Ocean is sometimes confused with the Southern Ocean because both are cold and ice-associated. The Southern Ocean encircles Antarctica and is substantially larger; the Arctic Ocean is the one centered on the North Pole and is the smallest.