The Sulu Sea (;
Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; ; ) is a
body of water
A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rare ...
in the southwestern area of the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, separated from the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
in the northwest by
Palawan
Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
and from the
Celebes Sea in the southeast by the
Sulu Archipelago.
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
is found to the southwest and
Visayas to the northeast.
The Sulu Sea contains a number of islands. The
Cuyo Islands and the
Cagayan Islands are part of the province of Palawan whereas
Mapun and the
Turtle Islands are part of the province of
Tawi-Tawi.
Sulu Sea is also where the
Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, one of the
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s is located.
Panay Gulf is an extension of the Sulu Sea. Straits out of the Sulu Sea include the
Iloilo Strait, the
Guimaras Strait, and the
Basilan Strait.
Geography
The sea's surface area is .
The
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
flows into Sulu Sea in northern Mindanao and between Sangihe talaud Archipelago, North Sulawesi.
Extent
The
International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states.
A principal aim of the IHO is to ...
(IHO) defines the Sulu Sea as being one of the waters of the
East Indian Archipelago. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
It extends about from north to south and from east to west. Waves can stretch across to .
The sea is deep but on its southern end Sulu Archipelago raises the sea floor to .
In popular culture
The ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' character
Hikaru Sulu is named after the Sulu Sea. According to Sulu actor
George Takei, "
eneRoddenberry's vision for Sulu was to represent all of Asia, being named for the Sulu Sea instead of using a country-specific name".
See also
*
Sulu Pirates
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean
Seas of Asia
Seas of the Philippines
Seas of Malaysia
Geography of Mindanao
Malaysia–Philippines border
Maritime Southeast Asia