The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, rivers, lakes,

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

systems (

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

s), and

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s. "International waters" is not a defined term in international law. It is an informal term, which sometimes refers to waters beyond the "territorial sea" of any country. In other words, "international waters" is sometimes used as an informal synonym for the more formal term "high seas", which under the doctrine of ''mare liberum'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "freedom of the seas"), do not belong to any state's jurisdiction. As such, states have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research. The

Convention on the High Seas The Convention on the High Seas is an international treaty which codifies the rules of international law relating to the high seas, otherwise known as international waters. The convention was one of four treaties created at the United Nations C ...

, signed in 1958, which has 63 signatories, defined "high seas" to mean "all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State" and where "no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty." The Convention on the High Seas was used as a foundation for 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 treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...

(UNCLOS), signed in 1982, which recognized

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

s extending from the baseline, where coastal states have sovereign rights to the water column and sea floor as well as the natural resources found there. The high seas make up 50% of the surface area of the planet and cover over two-thirds of the ocean. Ships sailing the high seas are generally under the jurisdiction of the flag state (if there is one); however, when a ship is involved in certain criminal acts, such as

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, any nation can exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of

universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows Sovereign state, states or International organization, international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as genocide, War crime, war crimes, and crimes against hu ...

. International waters can be contrasted with internal waters,

territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

and

exclusive economic zones An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including e ...

. UNCLOS also contains, in its part XII, special provisions for the protection of the marine environment, which, in certain cases, allow port States to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over foreign ships on the high seas if they violate international environmental rules (adopted by the IMO), such as the MARPOL Convention.

Underground Transboundary Waters

When an underground water crosses international boundaries, the term transboundary aquifer applies. The term transboundariness can then be applied, which is a concept, measure and approach first introduced in 2017 when talking about underground transboundary waters. The importance of this approach is that the physical properties of aquifers become merely additional variables within the broad spectrum of the transboundary nature of an aquifer: social (population); economic (groundwater efficiency); political (cross-border); existing research or data; water quality and quantity; other issues that drive the agenda (security, trade, immigration, etc.). The criteria proposed through this approach attempt to encompass and quantify all potential variables that play a role in defining the transboundary nature and multidimensional boundaries of an underground transboundary water.

International waterways

Several international treaties have established freedom of navigation on semi-enclosed seas. * The Copenhagen Convention of 1857 opened access to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

by abolishing the

Sound Dues The Sound Dues (or Sound Tolls; ) were a toll on the use of the Øresund, or "Sound" strait separating the modern day borders of Denmark and Sweden. The tolls constituted up to two thirds of Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centurie ...

and making the

Danish straits The Danish straits are the straits connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. Historically, the Danish straits were internal waterways of Denmark; however, following territorial losses, Øresund and Fehmarn B ...

an international waterway free to all commercial shipping. Separately, the Royal Ordinance of 1999 regulates the access of foreign warships to Danish waters. * Several conventions have opened the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

and

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

to shipping. The latest, the

Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, maintains the straits' status as an international waterway. Other international treaties have opened up rivers, which are not traditionally international waterways. * The

Río de la Plata basin The Río de la Plata basin (, ), more often called the River Plate basin in scholarly writings, sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region, is the Hydrography, hydrographical area in South America that drains to the Río de la Plata. I ...

, including the rivers Paraná,

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, is legally open for all international commercial ships without restriction, it notably gives sea access to landlocked

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. * The

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

is an international waterway so that

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, as well as landlocked

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

can have secure access to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Disputes over international waters

Current unresolved disputes over whether particular waters are "International waters" include: *

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

: While Canada, Denmark, Russia and Norway all regard parts of the Arctic seas as ''national waters'' or '' internal waters'', most

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

countries and the United States officially regard the whole region as international waters. The

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

through the

Arctic Archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, which is, by itself, much larger ...

is one of the more prominent examples, with Canada claiming it as internal waters, while the United States and the European Union considers it an international strait. *

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

: Australian claim to an

(EEZ) in Antarctica is challenged by Japan. * Okinotorishima: Japanese claim to an EEZ around Okinotorishima is challenged by China, South Korea, and Taiwan. *

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

: Disputes exist between Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

International waters agreements

Global agreements

* International Freshwater Treaties Database (freshwater only). * The Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development profiles agreements regarding the Marine Environment, Marine Living Resources and Freshwater Resources. * 1972 London

Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dum ...

(London Convention 1972). * 1973 London International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 MARPOL * 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, ''United Nations''; especially parts XII–XIV). * 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (CIW) – ''not ratified''. * Transboundary Groundwater Treaty, Bellagio Draft – proposed, but ''not signed''. * Other global conventions and treaties with implications for International Waters: ** 1971

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

on Wetlands. ** 1992

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

. ** 2023 High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement)

Regional agreements

At least ten conventions are included within the Regional Seas Program of

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

, including: # the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Coast of

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and Central Africa # the North-East Pacific (Antigua Convention) # the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

(

Barcelona Convention The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, originally the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution,Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

(Cartagena Convention) # the South-East Pacific # the South Pacific (Nouméa Convention) # the East African seaboard # the Kuwait region (Kuwait Convention) # the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

(Jeddah Convention) Addressing regional freshwater issues is the 1992

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (

UNECE The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is an intergovernmental organization or a specialized body of the United Nations. The UNECE is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Econ ...

/Helsinki Water Convention)

Water-body-specific agreements

( Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992) *

( Bucharest Convention) *

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

(

Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea A framework is a generic term commonly referring to an essential supporting structure which other things are built on top of. Framework may refer to: Computing * Application framework, used to implement the structure of an application for an op ...

) *

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

(Convention for the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika)Convention for the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika
2003

International waters institutions

Freshwater institutions

* The

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

International Hydrological Programme (IHP) * The International Joint Commission between Canada and United States (IJC-CMI) * The International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) * The International Shared Aquifer Resource Management project * The International Water Boundary Commission (US Section) between Mexico and United States * The

International Water Management Institute The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit international water management research organisation under the One CGIAR with its headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and offices across Africa and Asia. One CGIAR is a reformulat ...

(IWMI) * The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Water and Nature Initiative (WANI) * The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR)

Marine institutions

* The

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

(IMO) * The International Seabed Authority * The

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

* The

br>Regional Seas Programme
* The

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) * Th
International Ocean Institute
* The

Global Marine and Polar Programme (GMPP)

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law
Peace Palace Library * The GEFbr>International Waters Resource Centre
(GEF IWRC) * The Integrated Management of Transboundary Waters in Europe
TransCat
* Th
International Water Law Project
* Th
International Water Resources Association
(IWRA) *

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

*
Ocean Atlas
*
Transboundary Marine Protected Areas
(MPAs) article *
OneFish
fisheries research portal *

of the World portal *
Fishing Zeal
* The

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

- GEFbr>article describing international waters
from which this article has been adapted. *

freshwater thematic portal o
transboundary waters
*

thematic portals fo
oceans

watercoasts and small islands

WaterWiki
A new Wiki-based on-line knowledge map and collaboration tool for water-practitioners in the Europe and CIS region {{Authority control Law of the sea Water and politics

Underground Transboundary Waters

International waterways

Disputes over international waters

International waters agreements

Global agreements

Regional agreements

Water-body-specific agreements

International waters institutions

Freshwater institutions

Marine institutions

See also

Explanatory notes

References

External links