How big is the Pacific Ocean?

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean basin on Earth, covering more than 60 million square miles (155 million square kilometers) and averaging a depth of 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

Covering more than 30 percent of the Earth’s surface, the Pacific Ocean is the largest water mass on the planet. With a surface area of more than 60 million square miles (155 millions square kilometers), this ocean basin is larger than the landmass of all the continents combined. And it contains almost twice as much water as the world's second largest body of water, the Atlantic Ocean.

The Pacific is also our planet’s deepest water body, averaging a depth of approximately 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). The deepest place on Earth, known as Challenger Deep, extends to a depth of more than 36,000 feet (11,000 meters) and is found in the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific.

Holding more than half of the Earth's open water supply, the Pacific Ocean was named by explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who called this body of water "pacific," due to the calmness of the water at the time ('pacific' means peaceful).