Appendix G: Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Codes

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.
Principal Oceans and Seas of the World With Hydrographic Codes by
Institution
IHO 23-4th IHO 23-3rd* ACIC M 49-1 DIAM 65-18
Arctic Ocean 9 17 A 5A
Atlantic Ocean -- -- -- --
North Atlantic Ocean 1 23 B 1A
South Atlantic Ocean 4 32 C 2A
Baltic Sea 2 1 B26 7B
Indian Ocean 5 45 F 6A
Mediterranean Sea 3.1 28 B11 --
Eastern Mediterranean 3.1.2 28 B -- 8E
Western Mediterranean 3.1.1 28 A -- 8W
Pacific Ocean -- -- -- --
North Pacific Ocean 7 57 D 3A
South Pacific Ocean 8 61 E 4A
South China and Eastern Archipelagic Seas 6 49 and 48 D18 plus others
3U plus others
Oceans and Seas of the World With Hydrographic Codes by Institution
IHO 23-4th IHO 23-3rd* ACIC M 49-1 DIAM 65-18
ARCTIC OCEAN 9 17 A 5A
East Siberian Sea 9.1 11 A6 5S
Laptev Sea 9.2 10 A5 5P
Kara Sea 9.3 9 A4 5K
Barents Sea 9.4 7 A2 5B
White Sea 9.5 8 A3 5W
North Greenland Sea 9.6 -- -- --
Norwegian Sea 9.7 6 B30 5N
Iceland Sea 9.8 -- -- --
Davis Strait 9.9 15 B2 1V
Hudson Strait 9.10 16 A A15 1U
Hudson Bay 9.11 16 A10 1H
Baffin Bay 9.12 14 A A12 1P
Lincoln Sea 9.13 17 A A13 5L
Northwest Passages (Northwest Passage, Northwestern Passages) 9.14 14
A9 5T
Beaufort Sea 9.15 13 A8 5U
Chukchi Sea 9.16 12 A7 5C
James Bay -- -- A11 --
Kane Basin -- -- A14 --
ATLANTIC OCEAN (see North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean) --
-- -- --
BALTIC SEA 2 1 B26 7B
Gulf of Bothnia 2.1 1 (a) B29 7T
Gulf of Finland 2.2 1 (b) B28 7F
Gulf of Riga 2.3 1 (c) B27 7H
The Sound 2.4 2 -- --
The Great Belt 2.5 2 -- --
The Little Belt 2.6 2 -- --
Kattegat 2.7 2 B25 7K
INDIAN OCEAN 5 45 F 6A
Mozambique Channel 5.1 45 A F1 6Z
Gulf of Suez 5.2 35 F5 6W
Gulf of Aqaba 5.3 36 -- 6Q
Red Sea 5.4 37 F4 6E
Gulf of Aden 5.5 38 F3 6D
Persian Gulf (Gulf of Iran) 5.6 41 F7 6P
Gulf of Oman 5.7 40 F6 6M
Arabian Sea 5.8 39 F2 6R
Laccadive Sea (Ladshadweep Sea) 5.9 42 F9 6L
Gulf of Mannar 5.10 -- F8 --
Palk Strait and Palk Bay 5.11 -- -- --
Bay of Bengal 5.12 43 F10 6B
Andaman Sea (Burma Sea) 5.13 44 F11 6N
Strait of Malacca (Malacca Strait) 5.14 46 (a) F12 6C
Great Australian Bight 5.15 62 F21 6G
Suez Canal -- -- -- 6U
MEDITERRANEAN REGION 3 -- -- --
Mediterranean Sea 3.1 28 B11 --
Mediterranean Sea, Western Basin 3.1.1 28 A -- 8W
Strait of Gibraltar 3.1.1.1 28 (a) B7 8S
Alboran Sea 3.1.1.2 28 (b) -- 8Y
Balearic Sea (Balear Sea, Iberian Sea) 3.1.1.3 28 (c) B9 8J
Ligurian Sea (Ligure Sea) 3.1.1.4 28 (d) B10 8L
Tyrrhenian Sea (Tirreno Sea) 3.1.1.5 28 (e) B12 8T
Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Basin 3.1.2 28 B -- 8E
Adriatic Sea 3.1.2.1 28 (g) B14 8D
Strait of Sicily (Strait of Sicilia) 3.1.2.2 -- -- --
Ionian Sea 3.1.2.3 28 (f) B13 8N
Aegean Sea 3.1.2.4 28 (h) B15 8G
Sea of Marmara 3.2 29 B16 8M
Black Sea 3.3 30 B17 8B
Sea of Azov 3.4 31 B18 8Z
Gulf of Lion (Gulf of Lions) -- -- B8 8X
Aral Sea -- -- -- 8R
Bosporus -- -- -- 8P
Caspian Sea -- -- -- 8C
Dardanelles -- -- -- 8U
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 1 23 B 1A
Skagerrak 1.1 3 B24 1S
North Sea 1.2 4 B23 1N
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland 1.3 18 -- 1K
Irish Sea and Saint Georges Channel 1.4 19 B22 1R, 1Q
Bristol Channel 1.5 20 B21 1C
Celtic Sea 1.6 21 A -- --
English Channel 1.7 21 B20 1E
Bay of Biscay 1.8 22 B19 1B
Canarias Sea 1.9 -- -- --
Gulf of Guinea 1.10 34 C4 1G
Caribbean Sea 1.11 27 B6 1X
Gulf of Mexico 1.12 26 B5 1M
Bay of Fundy 1.13 25 B4 1F
Gulf of Saint Lawrence 1.14 24 B3 1T
Labrador Sea 1.15 15 A -- 1L
Greenland Sea 1.16 5 A1 5G
Denmark Strait -- -- B1 1D
Lake Erie -- -- -- 9E
Lake Huron -- -- -- 9H
Lake Michigan -- -- -- 9M
Lake Ontario -- -- -- 9N
Lake Superior -- -- -- 9S
Panama Canal -- -- -- 1J
Saint Lawrence Seaway -- -- -- 9L
NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN 7 57 D 3A
Philippine Sea 7.1 56 D26 3P
Taiwan Strait (Formosa Strait) 7.2 -- D17 3F
East China Sea (Tung Hai) 7.3 50 D13 3E
Yellow Sea (Huang Hai, Hwang Hai) 7.4 51 D14 3Y
Bo Hai (Bo Sea, Gulf of Chihli) 7.5 -- D16 3X
Liaodong Wan (Liaodong Gulf) 7.6 -- -- --
Inland Sea of Japan (Seto Naikai) 7.7 53 -- 3N
Sea of Japan (Japan Sea) 7.8 52 D11 3J
Gulf of Tartary 7.9 -- D10 --
Sea of Okhotsk 7.10 54 D8 3Q
Bering Sea 7.11 55 D6 5D
Anadyrskiy Zaliv (Anadyrskiy Gulf) 7.12 -- -- 5Y
Gulf of Alaska 7.13 58 D4 5F
Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia 7.14 59 D3 5E
Gulf of California 7.15 60 D2 3L
Gulf of Panama 7.16 -- D1 --
Amurskiy Liman -- -- D27 --
Bering Strait -- -- D7 5R
Bristol Bay -- -- D5 --
Korea Bay -- -- D15 3R
Korea Strait -- -- D12 --
Sakhalinskiy Zaliv -- -- D28 3B
Zaliv Shelikhova (Zaliv Shelekhova) -- -- D9 3K
Luzon Strait -- -- -- 3I
Tatar Strait -- -- -- 3D
PACIFIC OCEAN (see North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean) -- --
-- --
SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 4 32 C 2A
Rio de la Plata 4.1 33 C1 2R
Drake Passage -- -- C5 2D
Golfo San Matias -- -- C2 2M
Golfo San Jorge -- -- C3 2J
Scotia Sea -- -- C6 2S
Weddell Sea -- -- C7 2W
SOUTH CHINA AND EASTERN ARCHIPELAGIC SEAS 6 49 and 48 D18 plus others
3U plus others
South China Sea (Nan Hai) 6.1 49 D18 3U
Gulf of Tonkin 6.2 -- D19 3G
Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam) 6.3 47 D20 3T
Natuna Sea 6.4 -- -- --
Singapore Strait 6.5 46 (b) -- 3Z
Sunda Strait 6.6 -- -- --
Java Sea (Jawa Sea) 6.7 48 (n) F13 4J
Makassar Strait (Makasar Strait) 6.8 48 (m) E1 4M
Bali Sea 6.9 48 (l) F14 4L
Flores Sea 6.10 48 (j) F16 4F
Sumba Strait 6.11 -- -- --
Savu Sea (Sawu Sea) 6.12 48 (o) F15 6S
Timor Sea 6.13 48 (i) F19 6T
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf 6.14 -- F20 --
Gulf of Carpentaria 6.15 -- E4 4P
Arafura Sea 6.16 48 (h) E3 4U
Aru Sea 6.17 -- -- --
Banda Sea 6.18 48 (g) E2 4B
Teluk Bone (Gulf of Bone, Gulf of Boni) 6.19 48 (k) F17 4E
Ceram Sea (Seram Sea) 6.20 48 (f) D25 4Q
Gulf of Berau 6.21 -- -- --
Halmahera Sea 6.22 48 (e) D24 3H
Molucca Sea (Molukka Sea, Maluku Sea) 6.23 48 (c) D23 3M
Teluk Tomini (Gulf of Tomini) 6.24 48 (d) F18 3V
Sulawesi Sea 6.25 -- -- --
Mindanao Sea 6.26 -- -- --
Sulu Sea 6.27 48 (a) D21 3S
Celebes Sea -- 48 (b) D22 3C
SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN 8 61 E 4A
Bismarck Sea 8.1 66 E6 4K
Solomon Sea 8.2 65 E7 4S
Torres Strait 8.3 -- E5 --
Coastal Waters of Great Barrier Reefs 8.4 -- -- --
Coral Sea 8.5 64 E9 4C
Tasman Sea 8.6 63 E10 4T
Bass Strait 8.7 62 A F22 6F
Amundsen Sea -- -- E12 4D
Bellingshausen Sea -- -- E13 4G
Cook Strait -- -- E8 --
Ross Sea -- -- E11 4R
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* The letters after the numbers are subdivisions, not footnotes.
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