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> Cartographers at the National Geographic have finally recognized Antarctica's Southern Ocean on their maps, bringing their count of Earth's oceans to five. The society — which has been releasing maps of the world since 1915 — publicly announced their new policy yesterday, to coincide with World Ocean Day.

> National Geographic have defined the ocean as being bound by the current that flows around Antarctica — with a northernmost reach up to the 60th parallel south. The Southern Ocean joins the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific on their charts, although the Antarctica-encircling body's status remains internationally contested. Nevertheless, National Geographic hope their revised maps will help people think differently about the Southern Ocean, thereby encouraging its conservation.

> Unlike the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans — which are defined by the continents that bound them — the Southern Ocean is instead characterised by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Formed some 34 million years ago, when Antarctica and South America were separated by the action of continental drift, the ACC flows counter-clockwise around Antarctica in a fluctuating band that lies at around a latitude of 60°.

Read the full report featured on [Daily Mail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9667565/Maps-Earth-officially-FIVE-oceans-National-Geographic-finally-recognises-Southern-Ocean.html)