The equidistance principle, or principle of equidistance, is a
legal concept in
maritime boundary claims that a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median line that is
equidistant from the shores of neighboring nations. The concept was developed in the process of settling disputes in which the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
s of adjacent nations were located on a contiguous
continental shelf
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
:
The equidistance principle represents one aspect of customary international law, but its importance is evaluated in light of other factors
[Dorinda G. Dallmeyer ''et al.'' (1989). ] such as history:
History
The
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
used equidistance in the 1805 Act of Congress that divided public lands by measurements as close as possible to "equidistant from those two corners which
stand on the same line." One of the most notable historical events regarding equidistance is the Argument between Germany, Netherlands and Denmark. All three countries laid claim to a specific area within the ocean. Germany claimed that due to special circumstances they owned that land so the three countries fought through the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
. Eventually the ICJ stepped in and
held a trial regarding the topic.
International law also refers to equidistance. For example, Article 6 of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf explains:
See also
*
Natural prolongation principle
References
Sources
* Dorinda G. Dallmeyer and Louis De Vorsey. (1989). ''Rights to Oceanic Resources: Deciding and Drawing Maritime Boundaries.'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
OCLC 18981568
{{DEFAULTSORT:Equidistance principle
Borders
Maritime boundaries