IHO 23-4th: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication 23, Draft
4th Edition 1986, published by the International Hydrographic Bureau of
the International Hydrographic Organization
IHO 23-3rd: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication 23, 3rd
Edition 1953, published by the International Hydrographic Organization
ACIC M 49-1: Chart of Limits of Seas and Oceans, revised January 1958,
published by the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC),
United States Air Force; note - ACIC is now part of the National
Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
DIAM 65-18: Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features, Data
Standard No. 4, Defense Intelligence Agency Manual 65-18, December
1994, published by the Defense Intelligence Agency
The US Government has not yet adopted a standard for hydrographic codes
similar to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 10-4
country codes. The names and limits of the following oceans and seas
are not always directly comparable because of differences in the
customers, needs, and requirements of the individual organizations.
Even the number of principal water bodies varies from organization to
organization. Factbook users, for example, find the Atlantic Ocean and
Pacific Ocean entries useful, but none of the following standards
include those oceans in their entirety. Nor is there any provision for
combining codes or overcodes to aggregate water bodies. The recently
delimited Southern Ocean is not included.
Principal Oceans and Seas of the World
With Hydrographic Codes by Institution