The ten largest seas on Earth by surface area, from the Philippine Sea at about 5.7 million km² down to the Bering Sea at about 2 million km².
The Philippine Sea is the largest sea in the world, with a surface area of 5,695,000 km². The Coral Sea is second at 4,791,000 km² and the Arabian Sea third at 3,862,000 km². The ranking uses surface area of bodies of water named as seas, excluding gulfs and bays, from Wikipedia's List of seas, as of October 2026.
A sea is a large area of saltwater that forms part of the World Ocean, usually partly enclosed by land. This list ranks the ten largest named seas by surface area, spanning the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern oceans. Gulfs and bays are left out even when they are bigger than some seas: the Gulf of Guinea (about 2.35 million km²) and the Bay of Bengal (about 2.17 million km²) would otherwise make the top 10. The ranking runs from largest to smallest, so rank 1 is the sea with the greatest area.
The largest sea on Earth at about 5.7 million km², a marginal sea of the western Pacific floored by the Philippine Sea Plate. Its edges are traced by island arcs and deep trenches, including the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench.
A marginal sea of the South Pacific stretching 2,000 km down Australia's northeast coast. It contains the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest reef system, and most of it is protected within French and Australian marine parks.
The northern Indian Ocean's largest sea, bounded by the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Pakistan, India and Somalia. Through the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman it links to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, a trade crossroads for thousands of years.
The only named sea with no land boundaries: it is defined by the four currents of the North Atlantic Gyre, including the Gulf Stream. It is known for floating Sargassum seaweed and exceptionally clear blue water. Its area is tied with the South China Sea's in the source.
A marginal sea of the western Pacific covering around 3.5 million km² and one of the world's busiest shipping corridors. Its hundreds of small islands, reefs and shoals are subject to competing sovereignty claims.
A sea of the Southern Ocean around 2,000 km across, much of its southern part covered by the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Scientists have described it as having the clearest water of any sea.
A tropical sea of the North Atlantic bounded by the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Central America and South America. Its deepest point, in the Cayman Trough, is 7,686 m below sea level.
An intercontinental sea almost completely enclosed by land, linked to the Atlantic only through the 14 km-wide Strait of Gibraltar. It includes fifteen marginal seas, among them the Aegean, Adriatic and Tyrrhenian.
A marginal sea of the South Pacific about 2,000 km across and 2,800 km from north to south. It is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, the first known European to cross it, in 1642.
A marginal sea of the North Pacific covering over 2 million km², bordered by Alaska, Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. The Bering Strait at its northern end connects it to the Arctic Ocean.
| # | Name | oceanBasin | location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippine Sea | Pacific Ocean | East of the Philippines, south of Japan, west of the Mariana Islands |
| 2 | Coral Sea | Pacific Ocean | Off the northeast coast of Australia |
| 3 | Arabian Sea | Indian Ocean | Between the Arabian Peninsula and India |
| 4 | Sargasso Sea | Atlantic Ocean | North Atlantic, roughly between 20 and 35 degrees N |
| 5 | South China Sea | Pacific Ocean | Between southern China, the Indochinese Peninsula, the Philippines and Borneo |
| 6 | Weddell Sea | Southern Ocean | Off Antarctica, between the Antarctic Peninsula and Coats Land |
| 7 | Caribbean Sea | Atlantic Ocean | Between the Antilles, Central America and northern South America |
| 8 | Mediterranean Sea | Atlantic Ocean | Between Europe, North Africa and West Asia |
| 9 | Tasman Sea | Pacific Ocean | Between Australia and New Zealand |
| 10 | Bering Sea | Pacific Ocean | Between Alaska and the Russian Far East |
Seas are ranked by surface area in square kilometers, using the figures in the 'Largest seas by area' list in Wikipedia's List of seas, the single source for every area on this page. Only bodies of water named as seas are included; gulfs, bays and bights (such as the Gulf of Guinea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico) are excluded. The 'American Mediterranean Sea' is also excluded because it is a composite of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, which would double-count the Caribbean. The Sargasso Sea and South China Sea share the same rounded area (3.5 million km²) and are listed in the source's order. Areas for sea boundaries vary between sources, and some figures are rounded estimates. The ranking runs from largest to smallest, so rank 1 has the greatest area.
The Philippine Sea is the largest sea in the world, with a surface area of about 5.7 million km². It lies in the western Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Japan.
Seas are smaller than oceans and are typically partially enclosed by land, while oceans are the vast, interconnected bodies of water that cover most of the planet. Seas are often located at the margins of oceans.
This list counts only bodies of water named as seas. By area, the Gulf of Guinea (about 2.35 million km²) and the Bay of Bengal (about 2.17 million km²) are larger than the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico (about 1.55 million km²) is close behind, but they are gulfs and bays rather than seas.
No. The list covers seas that are part of the World Ocean. The Caspian Sea is entirely enclosed by land with no natural connection to the ocean, and is usually classed as the world's largest lake.
The Sargasso Sea is the only named sea with no land boundaries. Its edges are set by four ocean currents (the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, Canary Current and North Atlantic Equatorial Current) that together form the North Atlantic Gyre.
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