Databases, tablespaces, and datafiles are closely related, but they have important differences:
An Oracle database consists of one or more logical storage units called tablespaces, which collectively store all of the database's data.
Each tablespace in an Oracle database consists of one or more files called datafiles, which are physical structures that conform to the operating system in which Oracle is running.
A database's data is collectively stored in the datafiles that constitute each tablespace of the database. For example, the simplest Oracle database would have one tablespace and one datafile. Another database can have three tablespaces, each consisting of two datafiles (for a total of six datafiles).