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115-519: St. Lazaria is a very rugged looking island with limited and difficult access. Its direct exposure to the Pacific Ocean makes it ideal for birds to inhabit. Most likely the island is a volcanic plug — the remnants of an old and eroded volcano — which would make St. Lazaria an older volcanic cousin to the adjacent Mount Edgecumbe on Kruzof Island . The island itself is low with broken terrain due to its volcanic origins. Its highest point

230-415: A de facto date line did exist since the U.K., India, and the U.S. had the same calendar with different local times, and he should have noticed when he arrived in the U.S. that the local date was not the same as in his diary (his servant Jean Passepartout kept his watch set to London time, despite the clues from his surroundings). Ceremonies aboard ships to mark a sailor's or passenger's first crossing of

345-452: A change of date for its eastern half by removing Saturday, 31 December 1994 from its calendar. Because of this, Friday, 30 December 1994, was followed by Sunday, 1 January 1995. After the change, the IDL in effect moved eastwards to go around the entire country. Strictly legal, the 1917 nautical IDL convention is still valid. For example, when it is Monday on Kiribati's islands, it is still Sunday in

460-467: A few minutes earlier. In other words, the secular days are legally different but they are physically the same; that causes questions to arise under religious law. Because the IDL is an arbitrary imposition, the question can arise as to which Saturday on either side of the IDL (or, more fundamentally, on either side of 180 degrees longitude) is the "real" Saturday. This issue (which also arises in Judaism )

575-439: A full day to his clock, at the rhythm of an hour per fifteen degrees, or four minutes per degree, as Verne writes. At the time, the concept of a de jure International Date Line did not exist. If it did, he would have been made aware that it would be a day less than it used to be once he reached this line. Thus, the day he would add to his clock throughout his journey would be thoroughly removed upon crossing this imaginary line. But

690-538: A new day and a New Year are islands that use UTC+14:00. These include portions of the Republic of Kiribati , including Millennium Island in the Line Islands. The first major cities to experience a new day are Auckland and Wellington , New Zealand ( UTC+12:00 ; UTC+13:00 with daylight saving time). A 1994 realignment of the IDL made Caroline Island one of the first points of land on Earth to reach January 1, 2000, on

805-491: A one day date change. The 14th century Arab geographer Abulfeda predicted that circumnavigators would accumulate a one-day offset to the local date. This phenomenon was confirmed in 1522 at the end of the Magellan–Elcano expedition , the first successful circumnavigation. After sailing westward around the world from Spain, the expedition called at Cape Verde for provisions on Wednesday, 9 July 1522 (ship's time). However,

920-616: A popular and well-known tourist destination in Sitka. 56°59′14″N 135°42′17″W  /  56.98722°N 135.70472°W  / 56.98722; -135.70472 Pacific Ocean Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions . It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica ) in

1035-552: A result, the Philippines was one day behind its Asian neighbours for 323 years, 9 months and 14 days from Saturday, 16 March 1521 (Julian Calendar) until Monday, 30 December 1844 (Gregorian Calendar) . After Mexico gained its independence from Spain on 27 September 1821, Philippine trade interests turned to Imperial China , the Dutch East Indies and adjacent areas, so the Philippines decided to join its Asian neighbours on

1150-625: A time zone of their own choosing. The IDL on the map in this article and all other maps is based on the de facto line and is an artificial construct of cartographers, as the precise course of the line in international waters is arbitrary. The IDL does not extend into Antarctica on the world time zone maps by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the United Kingdom's His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO). The IDL on modern CIA maps now reflects

1265-431: Is 160 feet (49 m) above sea level and there are two small summits on the island with a low, treeless saddle connecting the two that can often be overcome by waves during storms and at high tide. There are many cliffs that can get up to 90 feet (27 m) tall and shoot strait into the ocean as well as sea-level caves that can be explored on a calm day by thrill-seeking individuals in small craft. St. Lazaria Island

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1380-528: Is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km (170,000,000 cu mi). Due to the effects of plate tectonics , the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size. Along

1495-462: Is Saturday, 21 December and that he has lost the wager by a margin of only five minutes. The next day, however, it is revealed that the day is Saturday, not Sunday, and Fogg arrives at his club just in time to win the bet. Verne explains: In journeying eastward he [Fogg] had gone towards the sun, and the days therefore diminished for him as many times four minutes as he crossed degrees in this direction. There are three hundred and sixty degrees on

1610-430: Is a cartographic convention, and is not defined by international law. This has made it difficult for cartographers to agree on its precise course, and has allowed countries through whose waters it passes to move it at times for their convenience. People traveling westward around the world must set their clocks: People traveling eastward must set their clocks: Moving forward or back 24 hours generally also implies

1725-456: Is a particular problem for Seventh Day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptists , and similar churches located in countries near the IDL. In Tonga , Seventh Day Adventists (who usually observe Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath ) observe Sunday because Tonga lies east of the 180° meridian. Sunday as observed in Tonga (west of the IDL, as with Kiribati, Samoa, and parts of Fiji and Tuvalu) is considered by

1840-539: Is a popular day boat-trip for Sitkans or a place to cruise around for fishermen already in the area. St. Lazaria is not supposed to be visited by foot from anyone other than permitted scientists as every square foot of ground contains burrows for nesting birds and can be easily crushed, disturbed, or destroyed. However, over 2,000 people a year visit the island by boat circling around the volcanic hulk — admiring its birds, cliffs, caves, and other volcanic landforms. Small and large-scale tour operators alike make St. Lazaria

1955-499: Is first mentioned by 12th-century decisors. But it was not until the introduction of improved transportation and communications systems in the 20th century that the question of an International Date Line truly became a question of practical Jewish law. As a practical matter, the conventional International Date Line—or another line in the Pacific Ocean close to it—serves as a de facto date line for purposes of Jewish law, at least in existing Jewish communities. For example, residents of

2070-492: Is immediately east of the IDL. A problem with the general rule above arises in certain Christian churches that solemnly observe a Sabbath day as a particular day of the week, when those churches are located in countries near the IDL. Notwithstanding the difference in dates, the same sunrise happened over American Samoa as happens over Samoa a few minutes later, and the same sunset happens over Samoa as happened over American Samoa

2185-557: Is just one of the 2,500 islands throughout Alaska that comprise the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge. It was originally designated as a "refuge for seabirds" in 1909, and received official wilderness designation from congress in 1970. Saint Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge was added to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in 1980. Just about all the wildlife on St. Lazaria is birds. On

2300-491: Is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups – the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail. The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahul after 58,000 B.P. fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia, with no later migrations in the prehistoric period. The seafaring abilities of pre-Austronesian residents of Island South-east Asia are confirmed by

2415-457: Is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean , roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and deviating to pass around some territories and island groups. Crossing the date line eastbound decreases the date by one day, while crossing the date line westbound increases the date. The line

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2530-616: The Jumu'ah prayer appears to be local Friday everywhere in the world. The IDL is not a factor in the start and end of Islamic lunar months. These depend solely on sighting the new crescent moon . As an example, the fasts of the month of Ramadan begin the morning after the crescent is sighted. That this day may vary in different parts of the world is well known in Islam. (See Ramadan § Beginning .) The concept of an International Date Line in Jewish law

2645-716: The 180° meridian except where it is interrupted by territorial waters adjacent to land, forming gaps—it is a pole-to-pole dashed line. The 15° gore that is offset from UTC by 12 hours is bisected by the nautical date line into two 7.5° gores that differ from UTC by ±12 hours. In theory, ships are supposed to adopt the standard time of a country if they are within its territorial waters within 12 nautical miles (14 mi; 22 km) of land, then revert to international time zones (15° wide pole-to-pole gores ) as soon as they leave. In practice, ships use these time zones only for radio communication and similar purposes. For internal (within-ship) purposes, such as work and meal hours, ships use

2760-670: The Americas , although evidence for this remains inconclusive. The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão , via the Lesser Sunda Islands , to the Maluku Islands , in 1512, and with Jorge Álvares 's expedition to southern China in 1513, both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca . The eastern side of

2875-560: The Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica 's Ross Sea ), the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude , where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia  – halfway around the world, and more than five times

2990-619: The Captaincy General of the Philippines . European publications were generally unaware of this change until the early 1890s, so they erroneously gave the International Date Line a large western bulge for the next half century. On 5 March 1797, missionaries of the London Missionary Society arrived on Tahiti from England. They had first tried to pass Cape Horn , but failing that, went along Cape of Good Hope and

3105-463: The Cook Islands , Niue , and French Polynesia are east of the IDL and one day behind. The IDL then bends southwest to return to 180°. It follows that meridian until reaching Antarctica , which has multiple time zones . Conventionally, the IDL is not drawn into Antarctica on most maps. (See § Cartographic practice and convention below.) According to the clock, the first areas to experience

3220-685: The Indian Ocean instead. As such, they introduced the date of the eastern hemisphere on the island. It was not until the ending of the Franco-Tahitian War and the restoration of the French Protectorate over the Tahitian Kingdom (which Tahitian nationalists had tried to fight off for two years of intense war with more than 1000 deaths) that the French commissioner Armand Joseph Bruat and

3335-783: The International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific , which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America , the Southeast Pacific off South America , Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern / Pacific Asia , and the Southwest Pacific around Oceania . The Pacific Ocean's mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Challenger Deep in

3450-789: The Mariana Trench , located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere , the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench , at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet). The third deepest point on Earth, the Sirena Deep , is also located in the Mariana Trench. The western Pacific has many major marginal seas , including

3565-583: The Pacific War ; however, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states . The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by

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3680-609: The Philippine Sea , South China Sea , East China Sea , Sea of Japan , Sea of Okhotsk , Bering Sea , Gulf of Alaska , Gulf of California , Mar de Grau , Tasman Sea , and the Coral Sea . In the early 16th century , Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted the great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). Afterwards,

3795-632: The Southern Hemisphere . The North Equatorial Current , driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds , turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current . Turning eastward at about 45°N , the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current , while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms

3910-662: The Strait of Magellan to the Philippines , the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes . Tsunamis , caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns. The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507

4025-755: The Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere , as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility , are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect ) subdivides it into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at the equator , the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas ). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by

4140-712: The Western Hemisphere . The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole ) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge . For most of Magellan's voyage from

4255-566: The crab claw sail ) – it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania. Starting at around 2200 BCE, Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines . From, probably, the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE, as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE. They were

4370-405: The 180° meridian until passing the equator . Two U.S.-owned uninhabited atolls, Howland Island and Baker Island , just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean (and ships at sea between 172.5°W and 180°), have the earliest time on Earth ( UTC−12:00 hours). The IDL circumscribes Kiribati by swinging far to the east, almost reaching the 150°W meridian . Kiribati's easternmost islands,

4485-855: The Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines . The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands , such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition , led by

4600-519: The Atlantic. The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc , along

4715-704: The Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current . The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on

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4830-802: The Danish-born Russian navy officer Vitus Bering . Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and colonized Polynesia , and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii , and the North American Pacific Northwest . In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron , a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established

4945-544: The Day Before (1994), in which the protagonist finds himself on a becalmed ship, with an island close at hand on the other side of the IDL. Unable to swim, the protagonist indulges in increasingly imaginative speculation regarding the physical, metaphysical and religious importance of the IDL. The concept behind the IDL (though not the IDL itself, which did not yet exist) appears as a plot device in Jules Verne 's book Around

5060-419: The Hawaiian date, so was effectively east of the International Date Line (unlike the rest of the Marshalls). Kwajalein returned to the west side of the IDL by removing Saturday, 21 August 1993 from its calendar. Moreover, Kwajalein's work week was changed to Tuesday through Saturday to match the Hawaiian work week of Monday through Friday on the other side of the IDL. As a British colony, the Kiribati colony

5175-449: The IDL. Christmas for example, is celebrated on 25 December (according to either the Gregorian or the Julian calendar , depending upon which of the two is used by the particular church) as that date falls in countries located on either side of the IDL. Thus, whether it is Western Christmas or Orthodox Christmas, Christians in Samoa, immediately west of the IDL, will celebrate the holiday a day before Christians in American Samoa, which

5290-501: The Jewish communities of Japan, New Zealand, Hawaii , and French Polynesia all observe Shabbat on local Saturday. However, there is not unanimity as to how Jewish law reaches that conclusion. For this reason, some authorities rule that certain aspects of Sabbath observance are required on Sunday (in Japan and New Zealand) or Friday (in Hawaii and French Polynesia) in addition to Saturday. Additionally, there are differences of opinion as to which day or days individual Jews traveling in

5405-498: The Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands , the Aru Islands , and Papua New Guinea . In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan. In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi , and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands . For the remainder of the 16th century, Spain maintained military and mercantile control, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across

5520-480: The Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism . The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones. The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones. Only the central part of the North American coast and the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones. International Date Line The International Date Line ( IDL )

5635-429: The Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam , and establishing the Spanish East Indies . The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and Acapulco , in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu , the Marquesas , the Cook Islands , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , the Marshalls and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. Later, in

5750-399: The Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea , Coral Sea , East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea , Sea of Japan , South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea , Tasman Sea , and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait ) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to

5865-401: The Pacific as to which day is really the seventh-day Sabbath. The Samoan Independent Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is not affiliated to the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, has decided to continue worshiping on Saturday, after a six-day week at the end of 2011. The Islamic calendar and Muslim communities recognize the convention of the IDL. In particular, the day for holding

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5980-413: The Pacific in prehistoric times. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic , at around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa, they reached East Asia , Mainland Southeast Asia , the Philippines, New Guinea , and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) between Sundaland and Sahul . It

6095-402: The Pacific in recorded history. They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation . Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn , the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until

6210-404: The Pacific region away from established Jewish communities should observe Shabbat. For individuals crossing the IDL, the change of calendar date influences some aspects of practice under Jewish law. Yet other aspects depend on an individual's experience of sunsets and sunrises to count days, notwithstanding the calendar date. The IDL is a central factor in Umberto Eco 's book The Island of

6325-540: The Philippines already in 7000 BCE. Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia, associated with Austroasiatic-speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia, are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE. At around 1300 to 1200 BCE, a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Fiji , and New Caledonia . From there, they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE. Some also back-migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle

6440-435: The Seventh-day Adventist Church to be the same day as Saturday observed east of the IDL. Most Seventh Day Adventists in Samoa planned to observe Sabbath on Sunday after Samoa's crossing the IDL in December 2011, but SDA groups in Samatau village and other places (approximately 300 members) decided to accept the IDL adjustment and observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Debate continues within the Seventh-day Adventist community in

6555-431: The U.S. Aleutian Islands ( Attu Island being the westernmost) and the Commander Islands , which belong to Russia. It then bends southeast again to return to 180°. Thus, all of Russia is to the west of the IDL, and all of the United States is to the east except for the insular areas of Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , and Wake Island , reaching the hypothetical, but not used UTC–13:00 time zone. The IDL remains on

6670-528: The United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873–76); and the German Gazelle (1874–76). In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated

6785-399: The Universal Day, midnight-to-midnight Greenwich Mean Time (now redefined and updated as Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC ), which it did agree to, "shall not interfere with the use of local or standard time where desirable". From this comes the utility and importance of UTC or "Z" ("Zulu") time: it permits a single universal reference for time that is valid for all points on the globe at

6900-413: The World in Eighty Days (1873). The main protagonist, Phileas Fogg , travels eastward around the world. He had bet with his friends that he could do it in 80 days. To win the wager, Fogg must return by 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, 21 December 1872. However, the journey suffers a series of delays and when Fogg reaches London, it is 8:50 p.m. on Friday, 20 December, although he believes it

7015-416: The andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville , Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under

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7130-408: The andesite line. Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and

7245-409: The arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December. A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between

7360-421: The base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea . Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current . The South Equatorial Current , flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea , turns east at about 50°S , and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current . As it approaches

7475-410: The calendar (UTC+14:00). As a result, this atoll was renamed Millennium Island . The areas that are the first to see the daylight of a new day vary by the season. Around the June solstice , the first area would be any place within the Kamchatka Time Zone (UTC+12:00) that is far enough north to experience midnight sun on the given date. At the equinoxes , the first place to see daylight would be

7590-484: The circumference of the earth; and these three hundred and sixty degrees, multiplied by four minutes, gives precisely twenty-four hours — that is, the day unconsciously gained. In other words, while Phileas Fogg, going eastward, saw the sun pass the meridian eighty times, his friends in London only saw it pass the meridian seventy-nine times. Fogg had thought it was one day later than it actually was, because he had not accounted for this fact. During his journey, he had added

7705-408: The diameter of the Moon. Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati , just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W  /  4.97°S 158.75°W  / -4.97; -158.75 . The lowest known point on Earth – the Mariana Trench  – lies 10,911 m (35,797  ft ; 5,966 fathoms ) below sea level. Its average depth

7820-402: The difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins , which are

7935-430: The east (American) side of the line. Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand north of Samoa whose principal transportation and communications links with the rest of the world pass through Samoa . For that reason, Tokelau crossed the IDL along with Samoa in 2011, albeit strictly speaking 1 hour later, as they did not do Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time in American English), which Samoa did then. Kwajalein atoll, like

8050-434: The east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast. Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea , the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Santa Cruz , Vanuatu , Fiji and New Caledonia . The largest area, Polynesia , stretching from Hawaii in

8165-423: The east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents . In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to

8280-691: The eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula , the Kuril Islands , Japan, the Mariana Islands , the Solomon Islands , and New Zealand's North Island . The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside

8395-504: The eighteenth century. Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521. Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope , completing the first world circumnavigation in 1522. Sailing around and east of

8510-634: The equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km (63,800,000 sq mi) – larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km (58,000,000 sq mi). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from

8625-585: The equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre ) and counter-clockwise in

8740-586: The first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula , and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum  – a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from

8855-711: The first deviation of the IDL from 180° is to pass to the east of Wrangel Island and the Chukchi Peninsula , the easternmost part of Russian Siberia . (Wrangel Island lies directly on the meridian at 71°32′N 180°0′E, also noted as 71°32′N 180°0′W.) It then passes through the Bering Strait between the Diomede Islands at a distance of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from each island at 168°58′37″ W. It then bends considerably west of 180°, passing west of St. Lawrence Island and St. Matthew Island . The IDL crosses between

8970-469: The first humans to reach Remote Oceania , and the first to cross vast distances of open water. They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia , reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE, and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE. More recently, it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier, arriving in

9085-439: The incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile. Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during

9200-402: The island there are: Other less populous species include: pigeon guillemots , glaucous-winged gulls , ancient murrelets , Cassin's auklets , bald eagles , peregrine falcons , and black oystercatchers . In nesting areas on the island, the bird density can reach 7000 birds per acre. The only trees on the island are Sitka Spruce which are located at the highest points of elevation. It

9315-533: The islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia . Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line , includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to

9430-676: The islands of eastern Micronesia (including the Carolines , the Marshall Islands , and Kiribati ), mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration. They reached the Cook Islands , Tahiti , and the Marquesas by 700 CE; Hawaiʻi by 900 CE; Rapa Nui by 1000 CE; and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE. Austronesians may have also reached as far as

9545-482: The locals told them that it was actually Thursday, 10 July 1522. The crew was surprised, as they had recorded each day of the three-year journey without omission. Cardinal Gasparo Contarini , the Venetian ambassador to Spain, was the first European to give a correct explanation of the discrepancy. The IDL is roughly based on the meridian of 180° longitude, roughly down the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and halfway around

9660-461: The location of the International Date Line are determined, one on land and adjacent territorial waters , and the other on open seas. All nations unilaterally determine their standard time zones , applicable only on land and adjacent territorial waters. This date line can be called de facto since it is not based on international law, but on national laws. These national zones do not extend into international waters. The nautical date line , not

9775-446: The most recent shifts in the IDL (see § Historic alterations below). The current HMNAO map does not draw the IDL in conformity with recent shifts in the IDL; it draws a line virtually identical to that adopted by the UK's Hydrographic Office about 1900. Instead, HMNAO labels island groups with their time zones, which do reflect the most recent IDL shifts. This approach is consistent with

9890-585: The north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu , Tokelau , Samoa , Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands , Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands , Tuamotu , Mangareva Islands , and Easter Island to the east. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside

10005-603: The northern Philippines , but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic-speakers , resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples . Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c.  3000 –1500 BCE. They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies (notably outrigger boats , catamarans , lashed-lug boats, and

10120-557: The northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the Southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin , where they occasionally impact island nations. In

10235-399: The ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean. He named it Mar del Sur ("Sea of the South" or "South Sea" ) because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. In 1520, navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross

10350-460: The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico , which in Portuguese means 'peaceful sea'. Top large seas: Across the continents of Asia, Australia and the Americas , more than 25,000 islands, large and small, rise above

10465-549: The ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia . The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of

10580-561: The principle of national and nautical time zones: the islands of eastern Kiribati are actually "islands" of Asian date (west side of IDL) in a sea of American date (east side of IDL). Similarly, the western Aleutian Islands are islands of American date in a sea of Asian date. No international organization, nor any treaty between nations, has fixed the IDL drawn by cartographers: the 1884 International Meridian Conference explicitly refused to propose or agree to any time zones, stating that they were outside its purview. The conference resolved that

10695-569: The quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres . Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in exploration and trade; Willem Janszoon , made

10810-660: The regent of the Tahitian Kingdom Paraita ordered that Tahiti had to follow the western hemisphere on 29 December 1846. Alaska was on the western side of the International Date Line, since Russian settlers reached Alaska from Siberia . In addition, the Russian Empire was still using the Julian calendar , which had fallen 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar . In 1867, the United States purchased Russian America and moved

10925-574: The rest of the Marshall Islands , passed from Spanish to German to Japanese control during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During that period it was west of the IDL. Although Kwajalein formally became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands with the rest of the Marshalls after World War II, the United States established a military installation there. Because of that, Kwajalein used

11040-460: The same as the IDL, is a de jure construction determined by international agreement. It is the result of the 1917 Anglo-French Conference on Time-keeping at Sea , which recommended that all ships, both military and civilian, adopt hourly standard time zones on the high seas. The United States adopted its recommendation for U.S. military and merchant marine ships in 1920. This date line is implied but not explicitly drawn on time zone maps. It follows

11155-510: The same moment. Ferdinand Magellan claimed the Philippines for Spain on Saturday, 16 March 1521 , having sailed westwards from Seville across the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean . As part of New Spain , the Philippines had its most important communication with Acapulco in Mexico , so it was on the eastern side of the IDL despite being on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean . As

11270-500: The settlement of Buka by 32,000 B.P. and Manus by 25,000 B.P. Journeys of 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 230 kilometres (140 mi) are involved, respectively. The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos , Melanesians , and Indigenous Australians . Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia , coastal New Guinea , and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and

11385-544: The south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area (148,000,000 km (57,000,000 sq mi)). The centers of both

11500-500: The southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress. In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when

11615-418: The southern Line Islands south of Hawaii , have the latest time on Earth, UTC+14:00 hours. South of Kiribati, the IDL returns westwards but remains east of 180°, passing between Samoa and American Samoa . Accordingly, Samoa, Tokelau , Wallis and Futuna , Fiji , Tonga , Tuvalu , and New Zealand's Kermadec Islands and Chatham Islands are all west of the IDL and have the same date. American Samoa,

11730-415: The surface of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years. Close to the equator, without vast areas of blue ocean, are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of a central lagoon . Important human migrations occurred in

11845-537: The surrounding ocean, though maps are usually not drawn this way. As a consequence of the 1994 change, Kiribati's easternmost territory, the Line Islands , including the inhabited island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) , started the year 2000 before any other country, a feature upon which the Kiribati government capitalized as a potential tourist draw. Generally, the Christian calendar and Christian churches recognize

11960-628: The territory to the east side of the International Date Line. The transfer ceremony took place at 3:30   p.m. local mean time (00:31 GMT) in the capital of New Archangel ( Sitka ), on Saturday, 7 October 1867 (Julian), which was Saturday, 19 October 1867 (Gregorian) in Europe. Since Alaska moved to the eastern side of the International Date Line, the date and time also moved back to 3:30   p.m. local time Friday, 18 October 1867 (00:31 GMT Saturday), now known as Alaska Day . The Samoan Islands , now divided into Samoa and American Samoa , were on

12075-445: The time zone from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 ( UTC-10 to UTC+14 Dst ). Samoa made the change because Australia and New Zealand have become its biggest trading partners, and also have large communities of expatriates. Being 21 hours behind made business difficult because having weekends on backward days meant only four days of the week were shared workdays . The IDL now passes between Samoa and American Samoa, which remains on

12190-786: The tropics and Antarctica, which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude. The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius ; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan 's description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than

12305-476: The uninhabited Millennium Island in Kiribati, which is the easternmost land located west of the IDL. Near the December solstice , the first places would be Antarctic research stations using New Zealand Time (UTC+13:00) during summer that experience midnight sun. These include Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station , McMurdo Station , Scott Base and Zucchelli Station . There are two ways time zones and thereby

12420-497: The west side of the IDL until 1892. In that year, King Mālietoa Laupepa was persuaded by American traders to adopt the American date (three hours behind California) to replace the former Asian date (four hours ahead of Japan). The change was made by repeating Monday, 4 July 1892 , American Independence Day . In 2011, Samoa shifted back to the west side of the IDL by removing Friday, 30 December 2011 from its calendar. This changed

12535-512: The west side of the IDL. To advance the calendar by one day, on 16 August 1844 the then governor-general Narciso Claveria , ordered that Tuesday, 31 December 1844 should be removed from the calendar. Monday, 30 December 1844 was followed immediately by Wednesday, 1 January 1845 . The change also applied to the other remaining Spanish colonies in the Pacific: the Caroline Islands , Guam , Mariana Islands , Marshall Islands and Palau as part of

12650-511: The west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean . As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian , the West Pacific (or western Pacific , near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere , while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific , near the Americas) is in

12765-525: The width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history. One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later Japan and

12880-574: The world from the IERS Reference Meridian , the successor to the historic Greenwich prime meridian running through the Royal Greenwich Observatory . In many places, the IDL follows the 180° meridian exactly. In other places, however, the IDL deviates east or west away from that meridian. These various deviations generally accommodate the political and/or economic affiliations of the affected areas. Proceeding from north to south,

12995-434: The world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles). Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the freezing point of seawater, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near

13110-585: Was centered in the Gilbert Islands , just west of the IDL of the time. Upon independence in 1979, it acquired the claim to the Phoenix and Line Islands , east of the IDL, from the United States. As a result, the country straddled the IDL. Government and commercial concerns on opposite sides of the line could only conduct routine business by radio or telephone on the four days of the week which were weekdays on both sides. To eliminate this anomaly, Kiribati introduced

13225-572: Was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size. (Inhabited dependent territories are denoted by the asterisk (*), with names of the corresponding sovereign states in round brackets. Associated states in the Realm of New Zealand are denoted by the hash sign (#).) Territories with no permanent civilian population. The Pacific Ocean has most of

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