Extended continental shelf[edit]
The portion of the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit is also known as
the "extended continental shelf". Countries wishing to delimit their outer continental
shelf beyond 200 nautical miles have to submit scientific information for the basis of
their claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The
Commission then validates or makes recommendations on the scientific basis for the
extended continental shelf claim. The scientific judgement of the Commission shall be
final and binding. Validated extended continental shelf claims overlapping any
demarcation between two or more parties are decided by bilateral or multilateral
negotiation, not by the commission.
Countries have ten years after ratifying UNCLOS to lodge their submissions to extend
their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, or by 13 May 2009 for countries where
the convention was ratified before 13 May 1999. As of 1 June 2009, 51 submissions
have been lodged with the commission, of which eight have been deliberated by the
commission and have had recommendations issued. The eight are (in the order of date
of submission): Russian Federation; Brazil; Australia; Ireland; New Zealand; the joint
submission by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom; Norway and Mexico.
Rights over the continental shelf[edit]
Articles 77 to 81 define the rights of a country over its continental shelf.
A coastal nation has control of all resources on or under its continental shelf, living or
not, but no control over any living organisms above the shelf that are beyond its
exclusive economic zone. This gives it the right to conduct hydrocarbon exploration and
drilling works.
Background[edit]
Breadth claim Number of
states
3-mile limit 26
4-mile limit 3
5-mile limit 1
6-mile limit 16
9-mile limit 1
10-mile limit 2
12-mile limit 34
More than 12- 9
miles
Unspecified 11
From the eighteenth century until 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, this was the distance of a cannon shot, hence the
portion of an ocean that a sovereign state could defend from shore. However, Iceland
claimed two nautical miles (3.7 km), Norway and Sweden claimed four nautical miles
(7.4 km), and Spain claimed six nautical miles (11 km) during this period. During
incidents such as nuclear weapons testing and fisheries disputes some nations
arbitrarily extended their maritime claims to as much as fifty nautical miles (93 km) or
even two hundred nautical miles (370 km). Since the late 20th century the "12 mile limit"
has become almost universally accepted. The United Kingdom extended its territorial
waters from three to twelve nautical miles (5.6 to 22.2 km) in 1987.
