You Can't Measure the Atlantic's Width in Kilometers — There's No Land Route

The question "How many kilometers wide is the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe?" contains a category error. You don't measure ocean width in kilometers between continents the way you measure a road. There's no "there" there — just water, curved across a sphere.

What You Can Measure

• Shortest great-circle distance: ~3,200 km (1,730 nmi) — Newfoundland to Ireland
• Widest point: ~6,400 km (3,450 nmi) — between Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope (but that's South Atlantic)
• North Atlantic typical width: 4,000–5,000 km (2,200–2,700 nmi) at mid-latitudes
• Narrowest (North): ~2,000 km — Newfoundland to Ireland

Why "Kilometers Between Continents" Is Misleading

• Continents have irregular coastlines — "width" varies by latitude
• Great-circle distance ≠ straight line on flat map
• Ocean width changes with sea level (ice ages exposed continental shelves)
• Plate tectonics widens the Atlantic ~2.5 cm/year

Better Questions

• "What's the great-circle distance from New York to London?" → 5,567 km
• "What's the shortest crossing?" → Newfoundland to Ireland, ~3,200 km
• "How long does a ship take?" → 6–8 days (liner); 10–14 days (cargo)
• "How long does a cable take?" → 60 ms (fiber optic)

The Atlantic isn't a hallway you measure with a tape. It's a dynamic, curved, widening basin. Ask for distances between points — not "width between continents."