Map of the Celtic Sea, part of the Atlantic Ocean

The Celtic Sea (Irish: An Mhuir Cheilteach; Welsh: Y Môr Celtaidd; Cornish: An Mor Keltek; Breton: Ar Mor Keltiek; French: La Mer Celtique) is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Ireland. A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, Regions, and Themes Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people South is one of Cardinal directions and is opposite to the North. The coast is defined as the part of the land adjoining or near the Ocean. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world It is bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel, the Bristol Channel and the English Channel, as well as adjacent portions of Wales, Cornwall, Devon and Brittany. St George's Channel ( Welsh: Sianel San Siôr, Irish Muir Bhreatan) is a channel The Bristol Channel ( Môr Hafren) is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into The Celtic heritage of the bounding lands give the sea its name, first proposed by E. W. L. Holt in 1921. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Ernest William Lyons Holt ( October 17, 1864 &ndash June 10, 1922) was an eminent English marine naturalist and The northern portion of this sea had previously been considered as part of Saint George's Channel and the southern portion as an undifferentiated part of the "Southwest Approaches" to Britain. St George's Channel ( Welsh: Sianel San Siôr, Irish Muir Bhreatan) is a channel The Southwest Approaches is the name given to the offshore waters to the southwest of Great Britain See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The need for a common name came to be felt because of common geology and hydrology. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Hydrology (from Greek Yδωρ hudōr, "water" and λόγος logos, "study" is the study of the movement distribution and quality of The name is now commonly used by workers in the hydrocarbon exploration and fishing industries. Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum Geologists for Hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking culturing processing preserving storing transporting marketing or selling fish or fish products

The southern and western boundaries are less clearly defined. Holt suggested the 200 fathom (366 m) marine contour and Ushant; the International Hydrographic Organization definition uses rhumb lines and extends slightly further south. A fathom is a unit of Length in the Imperial system (and the derived U The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A contour line (also Level set, isopleth, isoline, isogram or isarithm) of a function of two Ushant (Enez Eusa Ouessant is an Island in the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of European France. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO was originally established in 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB See also Great circle Small circle

See also

• Irish Conservation Box

References

• IHO Limits of Oceans and Seas (page 39, section 21A). The Irish Conservation Box (ICB is a Marine Protected Area stretching along the southwest coast of Ireland.

External links

• cs-locale.png Map of the Celtic Sea: Sheffield Centre for Earth Observation Science
• Coccoliths in the Celtic Sea: a bloom of phytoplankton in the Celtic Sea, visible from outer space in an MISR image, 4 June 2001