The largest, and most famous, coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef. It is more than 2,500 kilometers long, has an area of 348,000 square km and is home to more than 400 marine species. It is also one of Australia's most prominent tourist attractions, but it is under threat from pollution and over fishing.
The Red Sea, located between Asia and Africa, is the northernmost tropical ocean in the world. It is home to just over 1,900 kilometers of coral reefs that border Israel, Egypt and Djibouti.
This coral reef is nearly 1,500 kilometers in length, near the former French colony of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean. Some parts of the reef have been damaged by nearby nickel mining, but the overall health of this reef is sound.
This system of connected barrier reefs actually stretches through the waters of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. It is estimated that only 10 percent of the species living in the Belize barrier reef have been discovered. It is 943 kilometers long.
The reef system around the coast of Florida stretches from the Atlantic ocean around to the Gulf of Mexico near Key West. This reef system is thought to be about 7,000 years old. It is 322 kilometers long.
This reef can be found in the Bahamas, between the islands of Andros and Nassau. It has an area of approximately 6,000 square kilometers, and has suffered a lot less damage than its more famous counterparts in Belize and Australia.
This is the largest atoll in the world. It has an area of more than 40,000 square kilometers and is claimed by Mauritius. It is a breeding ground for blue whales.
The Great Chagos bank is the second largest atoll in the world. It has a total area of more than 12,000 square kilometers. It is located in the Maldives.
This atoll has an area of 8,866 square kilometers and is claimed by the Philippines.
This is an atoll that is 81 miles long and has an area of 6,448 square kilometers. This atoll is claimed by the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
