Continental Shelf Area

According to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, the Continental Shelf is the area of the seabed and subsoil which extends beyond the territorial sea to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline and beyond that distance to the outer edge of the continental margin.

Areas of continental shelf that are disputed by overlaping claims by one or more nations have been excluded from this table. Areas that are of cooperative joint development between two or more nations have also been excluded.

Coastal States have sovereign rights over the continental shelf (the national area of the seabed) for exploring and exploiting it; the shelf can extend at least 200 nautical miles from the shore, and more under specified circumstances.

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 on how the maritime jurisdictional boundaries of the different member states are set.

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.
Further information on the Web site: http://www.maritimeboundaries.com/