Atlantic Ocean as the mid-19th century. During the Age of Discovery, the Atlantic was also known to English cartographers as the Great Western Ocean. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defined the limits of the oceans and seas in 1953, but some of these definitions have been revised since then and some are not used by various authorities, institutions, and countries, see for example the CIA World Factbook. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies. The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea,
South Seas South Seas The term South Seas commonly refers to the South Pacific. Geographically, all areas to the south of Panama's degree of latitude belong to the South Sea. Central archipelagos are the Society Islands (French Polynesia/Tahiti), the Samoa-archipelago and the Fiji islands. The term South Sea is often used synonymously for Oceania and in a narrow sense for Polynesia (Polynesian Triangle). The Hawaii islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa) and the Easter Island ("Rapa Nui") build the vertices. The Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term "South Sea" when he traveled through the isthmus of Panama and named the ocean