The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic
divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square
kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi), it covers approximately 20
percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water
surface area. The first part of its name refers to Atlas of
Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The
oldest known mention of "Atlantic" is in The Histories of
Herodotus around 450 BC (Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa
(Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα; English: Sea of Atlas). The term
Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was applied to the
southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century. Before
Europeans discovered other oceans, the term "ocean" itself was
synonymous with the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar that
we now know as the Atlantic. The early Greeks believed this
ocean to be a gigantic river encircling the world. The Atlantic
Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending
longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the A