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All 11 Flashcards — Maritime borders
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Question
What are maritime borders?
Answer
The boundaries that divide the sea between states and set their rights over it, governed mainly by the UNCLOS treaty.
Question
What is UNCLOS?
Answer
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea — the treaty that sets the rules for maritime borders and sea zones.
Question
What are the three main sea zones?
Answer
Territorial waters (~12nm, full sovereignty), the EEZ (~200nm, sole resource rights), and the high seas (belong to no one).
Question
What is an EEZ?
Answer
An Exclusive Economic Zone — a state's zone of sole rights to sea resources up to about 200 nautical miles, but not full sovereignty.
Question
Why do maritime borders matter?
Answer
Control of the sea means control of fish, oil, gas, shipping lanes and strategic position — huge resources and power.
Question
Why do islands cause big disputes?
Answer
Under UNCLOS an island generates its own EEZ, so controlling a tiny island extends a state's resource rights over a vast area of sea.
Question
Why is UNCLOS not enough to settle disputes?
Answer
It provides rules and a tribunal but cannot compel a powerful state that rejects a ruling, so disputes need negotiation, pressure or force.
Question
What is joint development?
Answer
An agreement where states jointly develop and share the resources of a disputed sea, setting the sovereignty question aside.
Question
Why are maritime disputes rising?
Answer
As land borders settled and sea resources grew more valuable and reachable, control of the sea became a growing source of tension.
Question
What collide in maritime border disputes?
Answer
International law (UNCLOS), resources (fish, oil, gas) and power — legal rulings only settle a dispute if the powerful accept them.
Question
How should the world respond to a state ignoring a maritime ruling?
Answer
Uphold UNCLOS and the ruling, backed by collective pressure, and pursue joint development where a clean border is impossible.
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Full study notes for Maritime borders
Topic 5.1 hub
Borders
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