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