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A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...
's water surface areas using
physiographic Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere ...
or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase
General info
retrieved 19 Nov 2010
encompassing maritime features, limits and zones.Geoscience Australia
Maritime definitions
retrieved 19 Nov 2010
Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction's coastline. Although in some countries the term ''maritime boundary'' represents
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
s of a
maritime nation A maritime nation is any nation that borders the sea and is dependent on its use for the majority of the following state activities: commerce and transport, war, to define a territorial boundary, or for any maritime activity (activities using the ...
that are recognized by the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 ...
, maritime borders usually serve to identify the edge of international waters. Maritime boundaries exist in the context of
territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...
,
contiguous zone The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
s, and exclusive economic zones; however, the terminology does not encompass
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
or
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries. Some maritime boundaries have remained indeterminate despite efforts to clarify them. This is explained by an array of factors, some of which involve regional problems. The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic and environmental implications.


Terminology

The terms boundary, frontier and
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
are often used as if they were interchangeable, but they are also terms with precise meanings. A boundary is a line. The terms "frontier", "borderland" and "border" are zones of indeterminate width. Such areas form the outermost part of a country. Borders are bounded on one side by a national boundary. There are variations in the specific terminology of maritime boundary agreements which have been concluded since the 1970s. Such differences are less important than what is being delimited.


Features

Features that affect maritime boundaries include
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
s and the submerged seabed of the
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 island ...
. The process of
boundary delimitation Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries, particularly of electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities.
in the
ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...
encompasses the
natural prolongation The natural prolongation principle or principle of natural prolongation is a legal concept introduced in maritime claims submitted to the United Nations. The phrase denotes a concept of political geography and international law that a nation's mari ...
of geological features and
outlying territory An outlying territory or separate area is a state territory geographically separated from its parent territory and lies beyond Exclusive Economic Zone of its parent territory. The tables below are lists of outlying territories which are marked ...
. The process of establishing "positional" borders encompasses the distinction between previously resolved and never-resolved controversies.


Limits

The limits of maritime boundaries are expressed in polylines and in
polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two ...
layers of sovereignty and control, calculated from the declaration of a baseline. The conditions under which a state may establish such baseline are described in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A baseline of a country can be the low water line, a straight baseline (a line that encloses bays, estuaries, inland waters,...) or a combination of the two.


Classification

Maritime spaces can be divided into the following groups based on their legal status: * Maritime spaces under the sovereignty and authority (exercising power) of a coastal State: internal waters, territorial sea, and archipelagic waters, * Maritime spaces with mixed legal regime, which fall under both the jurisdiction of the coastal State and under the international law: contiguous zone, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, and * Maritime spaces that can be used by all States (including land-locked ones) on an equal basis: high seas.  While many maritime spaces can be classified as belonging to the same group, this does not imply that they all have the same legal regime. International straits and canals have their own legal status as well.


Zones

The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines. * Inland waters—the zone inside the baseline. * Territorial sea—the zone extending 12 nm. from the baseline. * Contiguous zone—the area extending 24 nm. from the baseline. * Exclusive Economic Zone—the area extending 200 nm. from the baseline except when the space between two countries is less than 400 nm. In the case of overlapping zones, the boundary is presumed to conform to the
equidistance principle 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 ...
or it is explicitly described in a multilateral treaty. Contemporary negotiations have produced
tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
and
quadripoint A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners. Several examples exist ...
determinations. For example, in the 1982 Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement, for the purposes of drawing the treaty's equidistant lines it was assumed that France has sovereignty over
Matthew and Hunter Islands Hunter Island and Matthew Island are two small and uninhabited high islands in the South Pacific, located east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago. Hunter Island and Matthew Island, apart, are claimed by Vanuatu as part of ...
, a territory that is also claimed by
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of ...
. The northernmost point in the boundary is a tripoint with the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
. The boundary runs in a roughly north–south direction and then turns and runs west–east until it almost reaches the 170th meridian east.Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ; Charney, Jonathan I. ''et al.'' (1993). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' Vol. 1, p. 905; Charney, (1998).


History

The concept of maritime boundaries is a relatively new concept. The historical record is a backdrop for evaluating border issues. The evaluation of historic rights are governed by distinct legal regimes in customary international law, including research and analysis based on * acquisition and occupationJagota, S. P. * the existence of rights '' ipso facto'' and '' ab initio''. The study of treaties on maritime boundaries is important as (a) as a source of general or particular international law; (b) as evidence of existing customary law; and (c) as evidence of the emerging development of custom. The development of "customary law" affects all nations. The attention accorded this subject has evolved beyond formerly-conventional norms like the three-mile limit.


Treaties

Multilateral treaties and documents describing the baselines of countries can be found on the website of the United Nations. For example, the Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement establishes ocean boundaries between Australia and New Caledonia in the Coral Sea (including the boundary between Australia's Norfolk Island and New Caledonia). It consists of 21 straight-line maritime segments defined by 22 individual coordinate points forming a modified equidistant line between the two territories.


Disputes

Controversies about territorial waters tend to encompass two dimensions: (a) territorial sovereignty, which are a legacy of history; and (b) relevant jurisdictional rights and interests in maritime boundaries, which are mainly due to differing interpretations of the law of the sea. An example of this may be reviewed in the context of the ongoing Kuwait-Iraq maritime dispute over the Khawr Abd Allah waterway. Many disputes have been resolved through negotiations, but not all of them.


Unresolved maritime boundaries

Among the array of unsettled disputes, the maritime borders of the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea represent a visually stark contrast. A western line of military control between the two Koreas was unilaterally established by the
United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first ...
in 1953.Elferink, Alex G. Oude. (1994). Kim, Kwang-Tae
"After Exchange of Fire, N. Korea Threatens More Strikes on South,"
''Time'' (US). 23 Nov 2010.
Although the North asserts a differently configured boundary line, there is no dispute that a few small islands close to the North Korean coastline have remained jurisdiction of the United Nations since 1953. The map at the right shows the differing maritime boundary lines of the two Koreas. The ambits of these boundaries encompass overlapping jurisdictional claims. The explicit differences in the way the boundary lines are configured is shown in the map at the right. In a very small area, this represents a unique illustration of differences in mapping and delineation strategies. * On one hand, the boundary line created by the United Nations ("A") reflects the geographic features of the coastal baseline. * On the other hand, while the boundary line declared by North Korea does acknowledge specific non-DPRK island enclaves, its "Military Demarcation Line" in the ocean ("B") is essentially a straight line. Violent clashes in these disputed waters include what are known as the first Yeonpyeong incident, the second Yeonpyeong incident, and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong.Kim, Kwang-Tae
"After Exchange of Fire, N. Korea Threatens More Strikes on South,"
''Time'' (US). 23 Nov 2010


See also

*
List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders This is a list of countries and territories by land and maritime borders. For each country or territory, the number and identity of other countries and territories that neighbor it are listed. Land borders and maritime boundaries are included and ...
*
List of political and geographic borders Boundaries Below are separate lists of countries and dependencies with their land boundaries, and lists of which countries and dependencies border oceans and major seas. The first short section describes the borders or edges of continents and ...
* Exclusive Economic Zone *
Arctic Cooperation and Politics Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The domi ...
* Territorial claims in the Arctic * International Seabed Authority * Beagle Channel Arbitration * South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission *
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
* Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice *
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that a ...


Notes


References

* Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ''International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas.'' Routledge: New York.
OCLC 54061586
* Carleton, Chris; Shelagh Furness and Clive Schofield. (2001). ''Developments in the Technical Determination of Maritime Space: Delimitation, Dispute Resolution, Geographical Information Systems and the Role of the Technical Expert.'' Durham, UK: IBRU.
OCLC 248943759
* Charney, Jonathan I., David A. Colson, Robert W. Smith. (2005). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' 5 vols. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ; ; ; ;
OCLC 23254092
* Elferink, Alex G. Oude, (1994). ''The Law of Maritime Boundary Delimitation: a Case Study of the Russian Federation.'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff.
OCLC 123566768
* Jagota, S. P. (1985). ''Maritime Boundary.'' Martinis Nijhoff: Dordrecht. ;
OCLC 1175640
* Koo, Min Gyu. (2010). ''Disputes and Maritime Regime Building in East Asia.'' Dordrecht: Springer.
OCLC 626823444
* Kratochwil, Friedrich V., Paul Rohrlich, Harpreet Mahajan. (1985). ''Peace and Disputed Sovereignty.'' Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. ;
OCLC 12550771
* Prescott, John Robert Victor and Gillian D. Triggs. (2008). ''International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography.'' Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.
OCLC 212375790
* __________. (1985). ''The Maritime Political Boundaries of the World.'' London: Methuen.
OCLC 12582178
* Valencia, Mark J. (2001). ''Maritime Regime Building: Lessons Learned and Their Relevance for Northeast Asia.'' The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
OCLC 174100966


Further reading

* Donaldson, John and Alison Williams. "Understanding Maritime Jurisdictional Disputes: The East China Sea and Beyond," '' Journal of International Affairs,'' Vol. 59, No. 1.


External links

*
US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

Limits in the Seas
*
Flanders Marine Institute The Flanders Marine Institute (Dutch: Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee, VLIZ) provides a focal point for marine scientific research in Flanders, northern Belgium. The Flemish government established the institute in 1999 together with the province of ...

VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase


by Malcolm Shaw entitled ''Principles of Maritime Delimitation'' in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritime Boundaries