Law of the Sea — UNCLOS 1982 Maritime Zones — KSLU Pil Notes

Law of the Sea — UNCLOS 1982 Maritime Zones

flowchart LR
    BL[Baseline - Low Water Mark along Coast] --> IW[Internal Waters]
    BL --> TS[Territorial Sea - 12 nm]
    TS --> CZ[Contiguous Zone - 24 nm]
    CZ --> EEZ[Exclusive Economic Zone - 200 nm]
    EEZ --> CS[Continental Shelf - up to 350 nm]
    CS --> HS[High Seas - Beyond 200 nm]
    HS --> AREA[The Area - Deep Seabed - Common Heritage of Mankind]

Zone-by-Zone Rights and Duties

Zone	Distance	State’s Rights	Other States’ Rights
Internal Waters	Inside baseline	Full sovereignty — like land territory	No right of passage
Territorial Sea	0–12 nm	Full sovereignty; criminal/civil jurisdiction	Right of innocent passage
Contiguous Zone	12–24 nm	Customs, immigration, sanitation, fiscal control	Freedom of navigation
EEZ	0–200 nm	Sovereign rights over resources — fishing, minerals, energy	Freedom of navigation + overflight
Continental Shelf	Up to 350 nm	Seabed and subsoil resources	No rights over seabed
High Seas	Beyond 200 nm	Freedom of navigation for all	Open to all — no sovereignty
The Area	Deep seabed beyond CS	Common heritage of mankind — ISA manages	All States benefit equally