Talk:International waters

External links modified

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Need to delete "Extended Continental Shelf"

The section on "International waters agreements" has a diagram that is supposed to show the relationship between territorial waters, EEZs and the continental shelf. There are two major problems with this diagram.

(1) As the Wikipedia article on the continental shelf explains, the coasts of volcanoes do not necessarily have any geological continental shelf. In addition, in oceanic subduction zones along coasts, such as Chile and Peru, the continental shelf is very narrow. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelf, in most cases, the geological shelf is less than 200 nautical miles. However, all coastal states do have a legal minimum continental shelf of 200 nm. (http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part6.htm) Therefore, the boxes labelled "Continental Shelf surface" (yellow) and "Continental Shelf underground" (green) should be labelled "Legal minimum continental shelf surface" and "Legal minimum continental shelf underground", respectively.

(2) There is no such legal term as an "extended continental shelf". The term is not used in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelf, but it is used in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_waters#Extended_continental_shelf_claims Unfortunately, this is an out-of-date, stump article. All continental shelves have a legal limit somewhere between the minimum of 200 nm and the maximum of 350 nm. There is a certain amount of popular usage of "extended continental shelf" to describe the situation when governments have applied to have the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf assess and approve the geological data being used to justify a claim for a limit of more than 200 nm. Therefore, the boxes labelled "Extended continental shelf surface" (yellow) and "Extended continental shelf underground" (yellow) should be labelled "Legal limits to the shelf surface, more than 200 nm, recognised by the CLCS" and "Legal limits to the shelf underground, more than 200 nm, recognised by the CLCS". Alternatively, the wording in the diagram could be left unamended and a note added below the diagram explaining "extended continental shelf" is not a legal term.

In addition, this Wikipedia page should also discuss the distinction between the geological and the legal continental shelf. This should include a comment on the role of the CLCS. I have not done this, because I am a novice and I do not understand how to edit the diagram.

Perhaps, one of the Wikpedia editors could respond with advice on how to proceed.PeterPedant (talk) 17:56, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Hi PeterPedant, I am just looking at what work is needed to improve this article. I am wondering if your comment from three years ago has been addressed? If not, would you be able to make any required changes if this is a topic where you have some good knowledge (I have no expertise in this area)? Are there any particular references that should be cited? EMsmile (talk) 06:58, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

Terra nullius

The first paragraph defines international waters as Terra nullius, but that article says the term describes territory that can be claimed!

Common_heritage_of_mankind#Law_of_the_Sea_Treaty is more accurate and does mention use in Law of the Sea Treaty. Also relevant: Global public good, Global commons

--JWB (talk) 15:40, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

Surface waters of EEZs

Neither the introduction nor the map mention that surface waters of exclusive economic zones are also considered international waters. This page is getting some increased attention due to the Freedom Flotilla incident, and I see the map from the article being used to argue that you can't be in international waters if you're in the Mediterranean at all. 188.129.215.208 (talk) 07:59, 9 June 2025 (UTC)