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National Claims and Offshore Boundaries

Contents 1 Background 2 National Claims 3 Law of the Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone 4 Additional Resources 5 Subsections of this Article 6 Information about this article 7 Contact

Background

[short explanatory essay needed here]

National Claims

An area of the earth approximately equal to all the land area is currently claimed by various coastal states. These claims include Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), Military Zones, Fisheries Zones, Territorial Seas and Extended Territorial Seas, Unilateral Claims, Contiguous Zones, Extended Continental Shelf Claims, and special Joint Zones for fishing or development. Any of these may be in dispute or poorly differentiated. The references included here are merely included for educational purposes, and they do not represent an endorsement by OceanTeacher. The map below, perhaps somewhat dated now, gives a good general view of the extent, number and variety of offshore claims by coastal states.

Ross & Fenwick, 1992:  Maritime Claims and Marine Scientific Research Jurisdiction

Law of the Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone

"Law of the Sea" is very complex legal area deriving from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), involving both physiographic and political issues. This small section is intended only to provide the briefest introduction to the concepts involved. See the references below to begin in-depth research on the subject. The most widely used term, "Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ" is intended to refer to a 200-nautical mile wide zone, established by UNCLOS, adjacent to every coastal state, suitably and mutually modified by neighbor states whose territories would otherwise "overlap." [The 200-nautical mile EEZ zone may be extended after complex studies relating to sediment thickness and overall physiography, on a case-by-case basis, under Article 76 of the Convention. This "natural prolongation" may not, however, exceed 350 nautical miles.] Many overlapping areas remain in dispute, but a good number of them have been resolved. The only known public database on EEZ boundaries (the VLIZ database, see below) is believed to be actively updated and reliable for scientific use. It is not certified for any political purposes and is only advisory in that regard.

Additional Resources

• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) - "The international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place from 1973 through 1982...[it] defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. "
• Wikipedia: Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
• Continental Shelf Limits: The Legal and Scientific Interface - Concerning the physiographic issues surrounding extension of the EEZ beyond 200 nautical miles.
• Sea Around Us Atlas of EEZ Maps - Maps (visual only; no downloads possible) and statistics for every coastal state.
• The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase - Updated and quality-controlled, downloadeable GIS database of boundaries (mainly EEZ boundaries)

Subsections of this Article

No subsections available

Information about this article

Short title: Claims and Boundaries

Description: none

Expertise level: beginner

Author: Murray.Brown

Approval status: approved

Approved by: Murray.Brown

Last change: 2009-9-24

Subsection of: Marine Geography and Geopolitics

Contact

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