Exclusive Economic Zones

Sources

Q1 – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – Definition of EEZ https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf

Last accessed: 06.04.2026 (Pages 26–28, Articles 55–57)

"The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime established in this Part, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant provisions of this Convention."

Q2 – National Ocean Service – U.S. EEZ https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eez.html

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"The U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends no more than 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline and is adjacent to the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the U.S."

Q3 – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – EEZ Extension https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured."

Q4 – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – Delimitation of EEZs https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"The delimitation of the exclusive economic zone between States with opposite or adjacent coasts shall be effected by agreement on the basis of international law, as referred to in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in order to achieve an equitable solution."

Q5 – Wikipedia – Exclusive Economic Zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"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."

Q6 – Britannica – Exclusive Economic Zone https://www.britannica.com/topic/exclusive-economic-zone

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"The concept of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was introduced at the Third United Nations (UN) Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973–82) in order to settle potential disputes between countries by awarding sovereign jurisdiction within boundary waters to coastal states. The establishment of EEZs was intended to mitigate disputes over offshore enterprises such as fishing and energy production."

"Coastal states retain certain rights within their EEZs, including conservation and management of fisheries and the production of energy from water and wind. An EEZ also provides coastal states certain rights for artificial islands, research stations, and marine preservation."

"UNCLOS indicates that the coastal state determines the acceptable level of fishing quotas in its EEZ, with a focus on sustainable management. The coastal state is entitled to fish the entire quota or to award the surplus to other countries."

"UNCLOS establishes rights for how other countries may access the waters in an EEZ. It allows for innocent passage of foreign vessels; that is, ships are allowed to pass through as long as they do not participate in proprietary activities reserved for the coastal state, such as fishing or conducting research, without permission or engage in criminal activities."

"In cases where countries’ coastal borders are closer than 400 nautical miles (740 km), the boundary line is commonly set in the middle, equidistant from both entities. In cases where the parties cannot agree on the boundary, the International Court of Justice or an arbitration tribunal determines the boundary."

Q7 – Britannica – Law of the Sea https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Sea

Last accessed: 06.04.2026

"Law of the Sea, branch of international law concerned with public order at sea. Much of this law is codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed Dec. 10, 1982."

"According to the 1982 convention, each country’s sovereign territorial waters extend to a maximum of 12 nautical miles (22 km) beyond its coast, but foreign vessels are granted the right of innocent passage through this zone."

"Passage is innocent as long as a ship refrains from engaging in certain prohibited activities, including weapons testing, spying, smuggling, serious pollution, fishing, or scientific research."

Graphic Sources

VG1 – AI-generated image

Created with OpenAI DALL·E (text-to-image model), based on a custom prompt by the author.

Create a precise, clean, and minimalist top-down educational diagram for a geography video about Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). - Two fictional coastal states labeled as 'Country A' (left) and 'Country B' (right) in English. - Each state has a 200 nautical mile EEZ zone, represented by a semi-transparent blue circle. - The overlapping area between the two EEZs should be highlighted in red and labeled 'Disputed Area' in English. - A green dashed line should run vertically through the center of the overlapping area (no label). - Use a transparent background. - No country names, borders, or political labels beyond the labels specified. - Focus on visual clarity and educational purpose.

VG2 – Exclusive Economic Zones by boundary type https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Exclusive_Economic_Zones_by_boundary_type.png

Last accessed: 07.04.2026

SVG file given by Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue.

VG3 – AI-generated image

Created with OpenAI DALL·E (text-to-image model), based on a custom prompt by the author.

Create a precise, clean, and minimalist top-down educational diagram for a geography video about innocent passage in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). - A coastal state labeled as 'Country A' with a clearly defined 200 nautical mile EEZ zone, represented by a semi-transparent blue circle. - A foreign vessel from 'Country B' navigating through Country A’s EEZ, depicted as a simple ship icon. - A solid green arrow pointing to the vessel, labeled 'Innocent Passage Allowed' in a clear, readable font. - A red cross over a fishing boat icon within the EEZ, labeled 'Fishing Without Permission: Not Allowed' in a clear, readable font. - Use a transparent background.