Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: What is the size by area of the North Sea?
The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between the United Kingdom (particularly England and Scotland), Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. An epeiric (or "shelf") sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600mi) long and 580 kilometres (360mi) wide, with an area of around 570,000 square kilometres (220,000sqmi).
In 2004, the Aral Sea's surface area was only , 25% of its original size, and a nearly five-fold increase in salinity had killed most of its natural flora and fauna. By 2007, the sea's area had further shrunk to 10% of its original size. The decline of the North Aral has now been partially reversed following construction of a dam (see below), but the remnants of the South Aral continue to disappear and its drastic shrinkage has created the Aralkum, a desert on the former lake bed.
It replicates the curvature of the Earth by compression of areas farthest away from China (most obviously the extreme horizontal squeeze of Europe), their reduced size making both a geographical and a political statement. Outside China, sub-Saharan Africa is depicted in a good approximation of the correct shape, complete with mountains near the southern tip. The interior of the continent is extraordinary: a river with twin sources (the common depiction in Classical and Islamic maps of the Nile) starts in the south of the continent, but enters the Red Sea, while the Nile, contrary to the information in non-Chinese maps of the era (though in conformity with a reported Arab geographical legend that "farther south from the Sahara Desert is a great lake, far greater than the Caspian Sea") has its source in a vast inland sea. This is likely to be based on vague information about the several great lakes in the region of modern Tanzania, gained during the course of direct trade between China and south-east Africa.
The European coverage goes only as far as the new portolan mapping, showing the Mediterranean and Black Sea areas. Unlike the African lake. those seas are not shaded with wave symbols, and nor is the nearby Caspian Sea, mapped in Islamic style with two islands, suggesting that the whole area is based on a single Islamic map. Arabia is squeezed horizontally, but recognisable. The prominent peninsula on the west coast of the Chinese landmass is Malaysia, but India is represented merely as a collection of place-names north-west of Arabia. Another manifestation of the same problem, dependence on external sources for geographical information, can be seen to the south of Korea, at the far right side of the map, where Japan, over-sized and misshapen, confusingly meets the much more correctly sized and positioned Taiwan.
Most seamounts are volcanic in origin, and thus tend to be found on oceanic crust near mid-ocean ridges, mantle plumes, and island arcs. Overall, seamount and guyot coverage is greatest as a proportion of seafloor area in the North Pacific Ocean, equal to 4.39% of that ocean region. The Arctic Ocean has only 16 seamounts and no guyots, and the Mediterranean and Black seas together have only 23 seamounts and 2 guyots. The 9,951 seamounts mapped cover an area of . Seamounts have an average area of , with the smallest seamounts found in the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean and Black Seas, whilst the largest mean seamount size occurs in the Indian Ocean . The largest seamount has an area of and it occurs in the North Pacific. Guyots cover a total area of and have an average area of , more than twice the average size of seamounts. Nearly 50% of guyot area and 42% of the number of guyots occur in the North Pacific Ocean, covering . The largest three guyots are all in the North Pacific: the Kuko Guyot (estimated ), Suiko Guyot (estimated ) and the Pallada Guyot (estimated ).
Though the non-avian dinosaurs were gone, the mammals and other land animals remained small, most not even bigger than a sheep; however; a few (like "Ankalagon saurognathus)" reached the size of a medium-sized bear. Numerous lineages of modern birds also survived, particularly in the area around Australia but also elsewhere, e.g. "Scaniornis" of the North Sea region. The oceans remained much the same as the Late Cretaceous seas, only that there was less life, few remaining marine reptiles (mostly turtles, choristodera and crocodiles), and other lesser-known animals.
Hala'ib, or Halayeb (), is a Red Sea port and town, located in the Hala'ib Triangle, a area disputed between Sudan and Egypt. The town lies on the southern tip of what Egyptians refer to as the Red Sea Riviera and the north eastern corner of Sudan's Red Sea State and is near the ruins of medieval ‘Aydhab. "De facto" control of the area is held by the Egyptian government.
The Tampa Subsea was named for the Tampa, Florida and reef system. It is contemporary with the Chattahoochee Subsea in the Florida Panhandle. During this period, Orange Island grew in size toward the west and north while the Gulf Trough or Suwannee Strait narrowed and became shallower. On Orange Island's western side, upwelling systems were taking place with a system of lagoons and coral islands not unlike the Florida Keys evolving. In what would become the Everglades, the carbonate banks grew and the area became shallower.
Of the seven East Frisian islands, Norderney is the youngest. The island has only existed in its present form since the middle of the 16th century, being the eastern remnant of the larger island Buise. The larger island of Buise was split into two parts during the Grote Mandrenke flood of 1362, the eastern half at first being called Ostrende. What was left of Buise shrank in size over the years and finally disappeared into the North Sea during the St. Peter's Flood of 1651. Ostrende, on the other hand, grew in size, and is noted in a 1550 census as "Norder neys Oog" (Northern New Island), and having a church and 18 houses. The inhabitants at this time worked principally as fishermen. In the second half of the 18th century the sea trade industry grew in importance. Next to fishing, tourism became important to the island economy. In 1797, Norderney became the first German resort on the North Sea.
Central Kalimantan is the third largest Indonesian province by area with a size of 153,564.5 km2, about 1.5 times the size of the island of Java. It is bordered by West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the north, by the Java Sea to the south, by South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the east, and by West Kalimantan province to west.
Venezuela is a country in South America, and part of the Caribbean South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana. It is situated on major sea and air routes linking North and South America. Located at the northernmost end of South America, Venezuela has a total area of 916,445 square kilometers and a land area of 882,050 square kilometers, about twice the size of California. Shaped roughly like an inverted triangle, the country has a 2,800-kilometer coastline and is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by Guyana, on the south by Brazil, and on the west by Colombia. Its maritime limits border Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.
The evaporite rocks of the Zechstein formation were laid down by the Zechstein Sea, an epicontinental or epeiric sea that existed in the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs of the Permian period. The Zechstein Sea occupied the region of what is now the North Sea, plus lowland areas of Britain and the north European plain through Germany and Poland. At times the Zechstein Sea may have connected with the Paleotethys Ocean through southeastern Poland; the point is disputed by researchers. 
The German concept of emergency towing prescribes a maximum response time of two hours for any incident in German coastal waters. This requires three ETVs in the North Sea and five in the Baltic Sea despite a considerably smaller area to cover there. Equipment and performance of the vessels have been adapted to the size of the vessels in the respective areas of operation and include the ability to operate in shallow waters. Moreover, it is mandatory to have one vessel with 200 t of bollard pull and 100 t each in the North Sea and Baltic respectively. Both ship types are also required to be able to operate under hazardous conditions such as explosive areas and gas leaks.
Mandø is geographically one of the northernmost islands among the North Frisian Islands off the southwestern Danish and northwestern German coast. The Frisian Islands are generally the line of demarcation separating the North Sea from the Wadden Sea, which is a shallow sea of approximately 5000 square kilometers in size, riddled with small islands and tidal flats. The entire Wadden Sea area was formed by intervening riverine depositional periods between Ice Age glacier movements.
The source area of the Schilde lies on the North Sea / Baltic Sea watershed: while the Schilde flows over the Elbe into the North Sea, the area north of the springs drains over the Stepenitz and the Trave into the Baltic Sea.
The North Sea is more than 970 kilometres (600mi) long and 580 kilometres (360mi) wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres (220,000sqmi) and a volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres (13,000cumi).[4] Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Frisian Islands.[2] The North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles. A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea, including water from the Baltic Sea. The largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse watershed.[5] Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas.[6]
"Clupea" was commissioned in 1968. Measuring 32 m (100 ft) and drawing 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in), she is a good size for conducting research inside the constricted space of a sea loch. For research in offshore areas and the North Sea, the larger, more modern, is used.
The wide and endorheic Caspian Sea has a north–south orientation and its main freshwater inflow, the Volga River, enters at the shallow north end. Two deep basins occupy its central and southern areas. These facts lead to horizontal differences in temperature, salinity, and ecology. The Caspian Sea spreads out over nearly 750 miles (1,200 km) from north to south, with an average width of 200 miles (320 km). It covers a region of around 149,200 square miles (386,400 square km)—bigger than the region of Japan—and its surface is about 90 feet (27 meters) below sea level. The sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1,023 m (3,356 ft) below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal (−1,180 m, −3,871 ft). The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and large size.
Offshore wind resource characteristics span a range of spatial and temporal scales and field data on external conditions. 
For the North Sea, wind turbine energy is around 30 kWh/m of sea area, per year, delivered to grid. 
The energy per sea area is roughly independent of turbine size. 
The Acadian orogeny occurred in the Lower Devonian period (Paleozoic era), about 500 Ma. The continents of Laurentia and Baltica collided. The Iapetus Ocean disappeared under this continental collision. These plate tectonic forces built up a mountain range extending from what is now termed the Adirondacks north through Nova Scotia, the British Isles, Norway and the eastern margin of Greenland. Greenland and Scandinavia were situated at the amid the equator and mid tropics (20 to 20 degrees north). The area now comprising Greenland-Scandinavia-British Isles began drifting northward in the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian period. A high amount of volatile magmatism caused dikes parallel to the Tornquist Margin which were formative areas of the North Sea - British Isles -Germany - southwest Sweden area.
Most of the (original, pre-human) landscape along E11 was formed in the last 14,000 years, i.e. in the current Holocene or warmer period since the last ice age. The melting ice in Northern Europe caused huge rivers to carve out wide valleys, whilst the sea level rose significantly and flooded low land. It is known that the river Thames in England was once a tributary of the river Rhine on the continent; Britain was then not separated from the continent by the North Sea. In what is now known as the Netherlands and in the plains of (now) Northern Germany and Poland, rivers began to flow to carry the melted ice towards what became the Baltic Sea (itself also a result of the rising sea level) or the North Sea. These areas are now characterized by low-lying land, marshes, sandy old dunes (now stationary hills) alternating with older layers of peat.
Demerdzhi mountain covers an area of 13.8 square kilometers. From West to East it is 5.5 kilometers, and 3.5 kilometers from North to South. Geographers divide the area into two parts - North and South Demerdzhi.
The northern part is much larger in size, and slightly higher. The highest point is 1,359 meters above sea level. 
The highest point of the southern part is 1,239 meters above sea level.
Demerdzhi Mountain has developed the so-called conglomerates-small fragments of various rocks, boulders, pebbles of different sizes cemented sand and clay and, as a result of the action of natural forces the mysterious stone figures that form the Valley of Ghosts have emerged.
A 2005 photo of a locale in Elysium Planitia at 5°N, 150°E by the Mars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The volume of ice is estimated to be 800km (500mi) by 900km (560mi) in size and 45m (148ft) deep, similar in size and depth to the North Sea.[3] The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods from the Cerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago. The surface of the area is broken into 'plates' like broken ice floating on a lake (see below). Impact crater counts show that the plates are up to 1 million years older than the gap material, showing that the area solidified much too slowly for the material to be basaltic lava.[4]
The 31 sea areas covering the waters around the British Isles are as defined by the map shown here:
The areas were already roughly as listed above by 1949. In 1955, meteorologists from countries with North Sea coastlines met and recommended that the UK's sea area 'Heligoland' be renamed 'German Bight' to reflect more general usage amongst the nations concerned. They also recommended the divisions of 'Dogger' (with the north-eastern portion to be named 'Fisher') and 'Forties' (with the northern half becoming 'Viking'), and the renaming of 'Iceland' as 'South-east Iceland' for greater clarity. Following international consultation, these changes were introduced in 1956. In August 1984, the areas in the North Sea were again coordinated with those of neighbouring countries, introducing North Utsire and South Utsire, and reducing Viking in size. Finisterre was renamed FitzRoy in 2002, to avoid confusion with the smaller sea area of the same name used in the marine forecasts produced by the French and Spanish meteorological offices. Some names still differ; for example, the Dutch KNMI names the area equivalent to Forties after the Fladen bank, while Météo-France calls the English Channel sea areas Dover, Wight, Portland and Plymouth respectively Pas de Calais, Antifer, Casquets and Ouessant.
In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and the area known as "West of Shetland", "the Atlantic Frontier" or "the Atlantic Margin" that is not geographically part of the North Sea.
Sea level fell throughout the Cenozoic. Areas of Cenozoic North America that were covered by seawater tended to be areas near the modern coasts. The Cannonball Sea near Minot, North Dakota was the last of the North American interior. Cenozoic marine invertebrates are best known from deposits near the coasts and tend to resemble modern forms. Solitary corals became common, but coral reefs formed only around the Gulf of Mexico. Sharks were common during the Cenozoic. From Eocene times onward they began increasing in size.