Pacific Ocean

This article deals with Pacific Ocean as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on the planet Earth. It is notable as one of the most heavily populated areas on the overcrowded planet and is home to trillions of humans and other sentient beings.

In geo-political terms, it is often divided into five main "regions", although Pacific nations often identify themselves as part of other geo-political entities, due in part to the ambiguous definition of the concept of "region".

How an area made up mainly of vast stretches of water with scattered groups of islands may house so many billions of people has baffled scientists throughout the centuries, and many different explanations have been put forward in an attempt to account for this seemingly impossible phenomenon.

Although most nations in the Pacific are Westernised - and, most often, English-speaking -, there are also Indigenous peoples inhabiting Pacific islands. Among them, the Wymgani of the Ariddian Isles and the Maohi of the Federated Polynesian States. (See the article on Native Pacific Islanders).

Water characteristics

Water temperatures in the Pacific vary from freezing in the poleward areas to about 29 °C (84 °F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally. Water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. Poleward of the temperate latitudes salinity is also low, because little evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The Pacific ocean is generally believed to be warmer than the Atlantic Ocean.

The surface circulation of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific Gyre) and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Geology

Fractal reality renders it extremely difficult to precisely chart the geology of the Pacific. However, it is generally accepted that the countless islands in the Pacific are formed by vast undersea mountain ranges whose tops breach the surface. Most, if not all, of these mountain ranges were formed by a combination of plate tectonics and volcanic activity. Many of the islands in the Pacific continue to contain active volcanoes which erupt periodically.

Landmasses

The Pacific Ocean contains literally thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of islands. Most of these islands are located in the Pacifics, the five large regions in the Pacific where most new nations emerge.

The Lanerian state of Kīlauea consists of a string of nineteen islands in the the Pacific. It is further from any other body of land than any other landmass controlled by the Commonwealth of Peoples.

There are basically four kinds of islands in the Pacific: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands are structually associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin and often contain active volcanoes.

The third and fourth types of islands are both the result of coralline island building. Coral reefs are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. The uplifted coral platform differs from the low coral islands because the entire coral structure is above water. It is normally larger than a low coral island.

Major ports and harbours

• Philadelphia, United Kingdom
• Poldi'sk, United Kingdom
• Port Hamptonshire, United Kingdom