List of Tectonic Plates
All 52 tectonic plates of the PB2002 model, with area, share of Earth's surface, neighbors and boundary length.
- Divergent boundary. Plates pull away from each other and new crust forms between them. Source
- Convergent boundary. Plates move toward each other and crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Source
- Transform boundary. Plates slide horizontally past each other. Crust is neither made nor destroyed. Source
Data source: PB2002 plate model, Bird (2003), converted by Hugo Ahlenius, Nordpil, ODC-By 1.0. Download: CSV .
Last updated
All 52 plates
Largest first. Sort by any column. The 20 linked plates have their own page with a map, countries and neighbors. Codes are the two-letter PB2002 codes used in the CSV.
| Rank | Plate | Code | Area (million km²) | Share of Earth | Neighbors | Boundary (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific | PA | 104.59 | 20.5% | 23 | 48,340 |
| 2 | African | AF | 58.48 | 11.5% | 8 | 41,815 |
| 3 | Antarctic | AN | 58.15 | 11.4% | 10 | 40,298 |
| 4 | North American | NA | 55.43 | 10.9% | 9 | 34,373 |
| 5 | Eurasian | EU | 48.56 | 9.5% | 11 | 41,578 |
| 6 | Australian | AU | 45.99 | 9% | 18 | 36,901 |
| 7 | South American | SA | 41.83 | 8.2% | 9 | 35,550 |
| 8 | Somali | SO | 19.15 | 3.8% | 5 | 23,464 |
| 9 | Nazca | NZ | 16.10 | 3.2% | 10 | 20,154 |
| 10 | Indian | IN | 12.44 | 2.4% | 5 | 17,119 |
| 11 | Sunda | SU | 8.92 | 1.7% | 9 | 14,029 |
| 12 | Philippine Sea | PS | 5.44 | 1.1% | 9 | 11,281 |
| 13 | Amur | AM | 5.30 | 1% | 5 | 10,625 |
| 14 | Arabian | AR | 4.90 | 1% | 5 | 10,644 |
| 15 | Okhotsk | OK | 3.04 | 0.6% | 5 | 9,460 |
| 16 | Caribbean | CA | 2.96 | 0.6% | 5 | 8,999 |
| 17 | Cocos | CO | 2.93 | 0.6% | 7 | 8,087 |
| 18 | Yangtze | YA | 2.20 | 0.4% | 5 | 7,134 |
| 19 | Scotia | SC | 1.70 | 0.3% | 4 | 7,723 |
| 20 | Caroline | CL | 1.53 | 0.3% | 5 | 5,302 |
| 21 | North Andes | ND | 0.97 | 0.2% | 4 | 5,369 |
| 22 | Altiplano | AP | 0.83 | 0.2% | 2 | 3,858 |
| 23 | Banda Sea | BS | 0.70 | 0.1% | 5 | 4,967 |
| 24 | New Hebrides | NH | 0.64 | 0.1% | 4 | 3,512 |
| 25 | Anatolia | AT | 0.58 | 0.1% | 4 | 3,345 |
| 26 | Birds Head | BH | 0.53 | 0.1% | 8 | 3,581 |
| 27 | Burma | BU | 0.51 | 0.1% | 4 | 4,033 |
| 28 | Kermadec | KE | 0.51 | 0.1% | 3 | 4,777 |
| 29 | Woodlark | WL | 0.45 | 0.1% | 8 | 5,061 |
| 30 | Mariana | MA | 0.42 | 0.1% | 2 | 3,549 |
| 31 | Molucca Sea | MS | 0.42 | 0.1% | 3 | 3,269 |
| 32 | North Bismarck | NB | 0.39 | 0.1% | 6 | 3,839 |
| 33 | Timor | TI | 0.35 | 0.1% | 3 | 3,248 |
| 34 | Okinawa | ON | 0.32 | 0.1% | 3 | 3,386 |
| 35 | Aegean Sea | AS | 0.32 | 0.1% | 3 | 2,357 |
| 36 | South Bismarck | SB | 0.31 | 0.1% | 4 | 2,786 |
| 37 | Panama | PM | 0.27 | 0.1% | 4 | 2,595 |
| 38 | Juan de Fuca | JF | 0.26 | 0.1% | 2 | 3,313 |
| 39 | Tonga | TO | 0.25 | 0% | 4 | 2,747 |
| 40 | Balmoral Reef | BR | 0.20 | 0% | 4 | 2,131 |
| 41 | Sandwich | SW | 0.18 | 0% | 3 | 1,825 |
| 42 | Easter | EA | 0.17 | 0% | 2 | 1,782 |
| 43 | Conway Reef | CR | 0.14 | 0% | 3 | 1,860 |
| 44 | Solomon Sea | SS | 0.13 | 0% | 4 | 1,775 |
| 45 | Niuafo'ou | NI | 0.12 | 0% | 4 | 1,769 |
| 46 | Maoke | MO | 0.12 | 0% | 3 | 1,648 |
| 47 | Rivera | RI | 0.10 | 0% | 3 | 1,484 |
| 48 | Juan Fernandez | JZ | 0.10 | 0% | 3 | 1,237 |
| 49 | Shetland | SL | 0.07 | 0% | 2 | 1,236 |
| 50 | Futuna | FT | 0.03 | 0% | 3 | 921 |
| 51 | Galapagos | GP | 0.01 | 0% | 3 | 577 |
| 52 | Manus | MN | 0.01 | 0% | 2 | 415 |
Data source: PB2002 plate model, Bird (2003), converted by Hugo Ahlenius, Nordpil, ODC-By 1.0. Download: CSV .
Read why sources count different numbers of plates, see the largest tectonic plate, or where they meet on the plate boundaries map.