Territorial Zone Definition
The United States proclaimed a 12 nm coastal sea in 1988, a 24 nm contiguous zone in 1999 and a 200 nm EEZ in 1983, which is consistent with customary international law codified in UNCLOS. This customary law is a balanced compromise between the interest of a flag State in maritime navigation and the interest of a coastal State in the protection and management of its coastal waters. U.S. sovereignty over its land lands extends to its internal waters and the territorial sea, including the airspace above and the seabed below. Subject to the ancient customs that nations should provide safe haven for ships in danger or distress (force majeure), the United States may restrict entry or travel in its internal waters. The United States may also prohibit entry into certain parts of the territorial sea if there is still an area where ships can exercise their right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The “passage” through the territorial sea must be continuous and rapid, although in some circumstances this may include stopping and anchoring. While warships are generally immune to laws and regulations, the United States has the right to require foreign warships to comply with U.S. laws.
If this is not the case, the United States can order the foreign warship to leave its territorial sea. From the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, the territorial waters of the British Empire, the United States, France and many other nations were three nautical miles (5.6 km) wide. Originally, it was the removal of a cannon shot, hence the part of an ocean that a sovereign state could defend from the coast. However, Iceland claimed two nautical miles (3.7 km), Norway and Sweden four nautical miles (7.4 km) and Spain claimed 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 miles) during this period. In incidents such as nuclear weapons tests and fisheries disputes, some countries have arbitrarily extended their maritime claims up to fifty or even two hundred nautical miles. Since the end of the 20th century, the “12-mile limit” has been almost universally accepted. The United Kingdom extended its territorial waters from three to twelve nautical miles (22 km) in 1987. These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “territorial waters”. The opinions expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. NOAA is responsible for representing on its nautical charts the boundaries of the territorial sea of 12 nautical miles, the contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles.
These areas are highlighted in orange. There is no right of innocent passage for aircraft flying over the airspace over the coastal sea of the coastal State. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia Article on Territorial Waters Each coastal state can claim a contiguous zone next to and beyond its territorial sea, which extends offshore up to 24 nm from its baselines. In its contiguous zone, a coastal State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringements of its customs, fiscal, immigration or health regulations in its territory or territorial sea and to punish infringements of those laws and regulations in its territory or territorial sea. In addition, in order to combat trade in archaeological and historical objects found at sea, a coastal State may consider their removal from the seabed of the adjacent area to be illegal without its consent. In 1972, the United States proclaimed a contiguous zone that stretched from 3 to 12 miles offshore (Department of State Public Notice 358, 37 Fed. Reg. 11906 (15 June 1972), in accordance with the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Territorial Sea and Adjacent Area. In 1999, eleven years after President Reagan extended the United States Territorial Sea to 12 miles, President Clinton proclaimed a contiguous zone extending from 12 to 24 nm offshore (Presidential Proclamation No. 7219, August 2, 1999), in accordance with article 33 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The important issue of the extent of territorial waters could not be resolved either at the UNCLOS I Conference (1956-1958) or at the UNCLOS II Conference (1960), as neither of the two main candidates for a 3-mile and 12-mile limits obtained the required two-thirds support. This lack of agreement could lead to serious international disputes.
[6] It was not until the Third Conference of UNCLOS (1973-1982), whose provisions did not enter into force until 1994, that this issue was resolved over twelve nautical miles. A low water level is a landmass that is completely underwater at high tide, but above water at low tide. These elevations do not in themselves create areas of maritime control.21 If a low water level is within the limits of a state`s territorial sea, measured from the mainland or an island, that state may draw a baseline from the low-water line of the low water level and not from the shore. While territorial seas are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of coastal States, the rights of coastal States are limited by the rights of passage of other States, including innocent passage through the territorial sea and transit through international straits. This is the main difference between internal and territorial waters. These rights are described in detail in Chapter Three: Freedom of Navigation. The territorial sea extends to a limit of 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal State. In this area, the coastal State exercises full sovereignty over the airspace above the sea, as well as over the seabed and subsoil. A coastal State may adopt legislation on maritime safety, environmental conservation and pollution prevention, reduction and control without being obliged to bring those rules into conformity with international standards.
The use of resources within the territorial sea is reserved exclusively to the coastal State. The continental shelf of a coastal nation extends to the outer edge of the continental margin, but at least 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 miles) from the baselines of the territorial sea when the continental margin does not extend as far. Coastal States have the right to explore and exploit the seabed and natural resources on or below, but other States may lay cables and pipelines if approved by the coastal State. The outer limit of a country`s continental shelf shall not extend 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 miles) from the baseline or more than 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 miles) from the 2,500-metre -long (8,200-foot) isobath, which is a line that connects the depths of the seabed to 2,500 metres. Some U.S. fisheries laws use the term “exclusive economic zone” (“EEZ”). While its outer boundary is the same as the EEZ on NOAA maps, the inner border typically extends inland to the maritime boundary of U.S. coastal states. . . .
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