Magellan Gave the Pacific Ocean Its Name

The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean are the three largest oceans in the world. The Pacific Ocean is by far the largest. Magellan was given a mission by Spain in 1519 to discover a new maritime passage to the Maluku Islands, often known as the Spice Islands (Indonesia). With a fleet of five ships and 265 men, he headed out, but only three of the ships were able to navigate the choppy Atlantic Ocean currents. In 1520, Magellan and his crew entered the tranquil seas of the Pacific Ocean after sailing over the very choppy Cape Horn. Although many called the sea of Magellan for many years, he gave it the name Pacfico, which subsequently became "Pacific". Only 18 of the starving men made it to the end of the trip because Magellan and his troops failed to account for the size of the Pacific Ocean.

From the Antarctic region in the Southern Hemisphere to the Arctic region in the North, the Pacific Ocean is completely enclosed. Asia and Australia are to the west, and the Americas are to the east. It holds roughly half of the free water that is available on our planet and has an area of 59 million square miles. All the planet's landmasses can fit within the Pacific basin, which the Pacific Ocean takes up nearly a third of the planet's surface. Thus, the Pacific Ocean is roughly twice as large as the Atlantic Ocean.