An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.[1]
It stretches from the outer limit of the territorial sea (22.224 kilometres or 12 nmi from the baseline) out 370.4 kilometres (or 200 nautical miles) from the coast of the state in question. It is also referred to as a maritime continental margin and, in colloquial usage, may include the continental shelf. The term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit. The difference between the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone is that the first confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the second is merely a "sovereign right" which refers to the coastal state's rights below the surface of the sea. The surface waters are international waters.[2]
- ^ "Part V – Exclusive Economic Zone, Article 56". Law of the Sea. United Nations. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ "Part V – Exclusive Economic Zone, Articles 55, 56". Law of the Sea. United Nations.