the.com/territorial waters
the ocean's version of a fence, drawn twelve miles from the beach.
means the belt of sea a coastal nation controls as if it were dry land, with rules on who can fish, sail, or drill there.
from traces to a 17th-century cannon-shot rule, jurists argued a nation should control as far as it could defend with shore artillery, roughly three miles, later formalized and stretched to twelve by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
standard limittwelve nautical miles from the coastline baseline
exclusive zoneextends further to 200 miles for economic rights only
innocent passageforeign ships may transit without stopping or spying
islands counttiny rocks can generate huge zones, sparking wars of maps
for instance
south china sea — china claims waters far beyond its coast, disputed by five nations
arctic ocean — russia planted a flag on the seabed in 2007 to claim it
strait of hormuz — iran threatens closure of this oil chokepoint routinely
falklands dispute — uk and argentina still argue over surrounding waters since 1982