Seven Seas
"The Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world and has existed since antiquity. Its earliest known appearance is in a Sumerian hymn dated to approximately 2300 BC, and the phrase was subsequently adopted and frequently used by the ancient Greeks. The specific bodies of water referred to as the "Seven Seas" have varied significantly by era and culture, generally reflecting the maritime geography known to the inhabitants of a specific region at the time. The phrase is typically used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture, and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Africa and the Indian subcontinent (as told with Sinbad's seven journeys, and Captain Kidd), or is sometimes applied to the Caribbean Sea and seas around the Americas (with pirates such as Blackbeard).
The terminology of a "seven seas" with varying definitions was part of the vernacular of several peoples, long before the oceans of the world became known (to those peoples).
Following global exploration, the catalogue of known waterways expanded significantly. Contemporary geographers now recognize approximately fifty distinct seas worldwide, rendering the term "Seven Seas" largely metaphorical in modern usage. The term can now also be taken to refer to these seven oceanic bodies of water:
the Arctic Ocean
the North Atlantic Ocean
the South Atlantic Ocean
the Indian Ocean
the North Pacific Ocean
the South Pacific Ocean
the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean
The World Ocean is also known as just "the sea", the expanse emanating from any marginal sea. The International Hydrographic Organization lists over 23 distinct bodies of water called seas.
The modern practice of debating which bodies of water are the seven seas is separate from the etymology of the term. Plausible etymologies are discussed below including the Po river delta in the north Adriatic sea. The phrase’s association with the world oceans in the late 19th century is characterized by Rudyard Kipling’s 1896 book The Seven Seas.
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