Claimed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international agreement that sets conditions and limits on the use and exploitation of the oceans. This Convention also sets the rules for the maritime jurisdictional boundaries of the different member states. The UNCLOS was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and it entered into force on 16 November 1994. As of January 2000, there are 132 countries that have ratified UNCLOS. Under UNCLOS, coastal States can claim sovereign rights in a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This allows for sovereign rights over the EEZ in terms of exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of all natural resources in the seabed, its subsoil and overlaying waters. UNCLOS allows other states to navigate and fly over the EEZ, as well as to lay submarine cables and pipelines. The inner limit of the EEZ starts at the outer boundary of the Territorial Sea (i.e., 12 nautical miles from the low-water line along the coast). In cases where a country's low-water lines is within 400 nautical miles of each other the EEZ boundaries are generally established by treaty, though there are many cases where these are in dispute. Under UNCLOS, "land-locked and geographically disadvantaged States have the right to participate on an equitable basis in exploitation of an appropriate part of the surplus of the living resources of the EEZ's of coastal States of the same region or sub-region." Some States have not ratified UNCLOS and many have not yet claimed their EEZ. These areas of unclaimed EEZ are the areas that a State has the right to claim under UNCLOS, but has not done so yet. Given the uncertainties surrounding much of the delimitation of the EEZ, these figures should be used with caution. Further information on the Web site: http://www.maritimeboundaries.com/