Maritime boundary
Encyclopedia
Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography
or by human geography
. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represent border
s of a maritime nation
and are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
, they usually serve to identify international waters
.
Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters
, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zone
s; however, the terminology does not encompass lake
or river
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 illustrate regional problems.
The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic and environmental implications.
and border
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 forms 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.
s and the submerged seabed of the continental shelf
.
The process of boundary delimitation
in the ocean
encompasses the natural prolongation
of geological
features and outlying territory
. The process of establishing "positional" borders encompasses the distinction between previously resolved and never-resolved controversies.
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.
For example, in the map at the right which shows Australian Arctic Territorial (AAT) maritime zones, the Adélie Land
or French territorial claim to Antarctica is indicated as a break the AAT waters. This portion of the Antarctic
coast between 136° E
and 142° E
has a shore length of 350 km and associated maritime zones which are not recognized by all governments.
In the case of overlapping zones, the boundary is presumed to conform to the equidistance principle
or it is explicitly described in a multilateral treaty.
Contemporary negotiations have produced tripoint
and quadripoint
determinations. For example, the 1982 Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement
, it was assumed that France has sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter Islands
, a territory that is also claimed by Vanuatu
. The northernmost point in the boundary is a tripoint with the Solomon Islands
. The boundary runs in a roughly north–south direction and then turns and runs west–east until it almost reaches the 170th meridian east
. The effect of these negotiated specifics is reflected in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.
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
.
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. The effect of this treaty is incorporated in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.
Many disputes have been resolved through negotiations, but not all.
A western line of military control between the two Koreas was unilaterally established by the United Nations Command in 1953. 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.
Violent clashes in these disputed waters include what are known as the first Yeonpyeong incident, the second Yeonpyeong incident, and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong
.
Physical geography
Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the...
or by human geography
Human geography
Human geography is one of the two major sub-fields of the discipline of geography. Human geography is the study of the world, its people, communities, and cultures. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is more...
. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represent border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
s of a maritime nation
Maritime nation
A maritime nation is any nation which borders the sea and uses it for any of the following: commerce and transport, war, to define a territorial boundary, or for any maritime activity ....
and are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
, they usually serve to identify international waters
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
.
Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
s; however, the terminology does not encompass lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
or river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
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 illustrate regional problems.
The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic and environmental implications.
Terminology
The terms boundary, frontierFrontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
and border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
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 forms 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 which affect maritime boundaries include islandIsland
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s and the submerged seabed of the continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
.
The process of boundary delimitation
Boundary delimitation
Boundary delimitation, or simply delimitation, is the term used to describe the drawing of boundaries, but is most often used to describe the drawing of electoral boundaries, specifically those of precincts, states, counties or other municipalities...
in the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
encompasses the natural prolongation
Natural prolongation
The natural prolongation principle or principle of natural prolongation is a legal concept introduced in maritime claims submitted to the United Nations....
of geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
features and outlying territory
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 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 polygonPolygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
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.
For example, in the map at the right which shows Australian Arctic Territorial (AAT) maritime zones, the Adélie Land
Adélie Land
Adélie Land is the portion of the Antarctic coast between 136° E and 142° E , with a shore length of 350 km and with its hinterland extending as a sector about 2,600 km toward the South Pole. It is claimed by France as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, although not...
or French territorial claim to Antarctica is indicated as a break the AAT waters. This portion of the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
coast between 136° E
136th meridian east
The meridian 136° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
and 142° E
142nd meridian east
The 142nd meridian east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
has a shore length of 350 km and associated maritime zones which are not recognized by all governments.
Zones
The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines.- Coastal waters—the zone extending 3 nm. from 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
Equidistance principle
The equidistance principle or principle of equidistance is a legal concept introduced in maritime boundary claims.The phrase denotes a concept of political geography and international law — that a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median line equidistant from the shores of...
or it is explicitly described in a multilateral treaty.
Contemporary negotiations have produced tripoint
Tripoint
A tripoint, or trijunction , is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet....
and quadripoint
Quadripoint
A quadripoint is a point on the Earth that touches the border of four distinct territories. The term has never been in common use—it may not have been used before 1964, by the Geographer of the United States...
determinations. For example, the 1982 Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement
Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement
The Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement is a 1982 treaty between Australia and France which establishes ocean borders between Australian territories and French territories....
, it was assumed that France has sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter Islands
Matthew and Hunter Islands
The Matthew and Hunter Islands are a group of two small and uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Pacific, located 300 km east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago...
, a territory that is also claimed by Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
. The northernmost point in the boundary is a tripoint with the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. The boundary runs in a roughly north–south direction and then turns and runs west–east until it almost reaches the 170th meridian east
170th meridian east
The meridian 170° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
. The effect of these negotiated specifics is reflected in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.
History
The concept of maritime boundaries is a relative 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 occupation
- the existence of rights ipso factoIpso factoIpso facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself," which means that a certain phenomenon is a direct consequence, a resultant effect, of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a subsequent action such as the verdict of a tribunal. It is a term of art used...
and ab initioAb initioab initio is a Latin term used in English, meaning from the beginning.ab initio may also refer to:* Ab Initio , a leading ETL Tool Software Company in the field of Data Warehousing.* ab initio quantum chemistry methods...
.
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
Three-mile limit
The three-mile limit refers to a traditional and now largely obsolete conception of the international law of the seas which defined a country's territorial waters, for the purposes of trade regulation and exclusivity, as extending as far as the reach of cannons fired from land.In Mare clausum John...
.
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. The effect of this treaty is incorporated in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.
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.Many disputes have been resolved through negotiations, but not all.
Unresolved maritime boundaries
Among the array of unsettled disputes, the maritime borders of the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea represent a visuallly stark contrast.A western line of military control between the two Koreas was unilaterally established by the United Nations Command in 1953. 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 United Nations-created boundary line ("A") reflects the geographic features of the coastal baseline.
- On the other hand, while the North Korean-declared boundary line does acknowledges specific non-DPKR 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
Bombardment of Yeonpyeong
The bombardment of Yeonpyeong was an artillery engagement between the North Korean military and South Korean forces stationed on Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, 2010. Following a South Korean regular artillery exercise at waters in the south, North Korean forces fired around 170 artillery shells...
.
See also
- List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders
- List of political and geographic borders
- Exclusive Economic ZoneExclusive Economic ZoneUnder the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
- Arctic Cooperation and PoliticsArctic Cooperation and PoliticsArctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations of the United States of America, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and The Faroe Islands...
- Territorial claims in the ArcticTerritorial claims in the ArcticUnder international law, no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic states, Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark , are limited to an exclusive economic zone of adjacent to their coasts.Upon ratification...
- International Seabed AuthorityInternational Seabed AuthorityThe International Seabed Authority is an intergovernmental body based in Kingston, Jamaica, that was established to organize and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying most of the world’s oceans...
- South Pacific Applied Geoscience CommissionSouth Pacific Applied Geoscience CommissionThe Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission is an inter-governmental regional organisation dedicated to providing services to promote sustainable development in the countries it serves.-Members:...
- International Court of JusticeInternational Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
- Jurisdiction of the International Court of JusticeJurisdiction of the International Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice has jurisdiction in two types of cases: contentious issues between states in which the court produces binding rulings between states that agree, or have previously agreed, to submit to the ruling of the court; and advisory opinions, which provide reasoned, but...
- Permanent Court of ArbitrationPermanent Court of ArbitrationThe Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.-History:The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution.The creation of...
Further reading
- Donaldson, John and Alison Williams. "Understanding Maritime Jurisdictional Disputes: The East China Sea and Beyond," Journal of International AffairsJournal of International AffairsThe Journal of International Affairs is a foreign affairs academic journal published bi-yearly by the students at the School of International and Public Affairs...
, Vol. 59, No. 1.
External links
- US Department of State, Limits in the Seas
- Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase