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Chapter: 11th Geography : Chapter 5 : Hydrosphere

Maritime zones

The low-tide line forms the base line for marking maritime zones.

Maritime zones

The low-tide line forms the base line for marking maritime zones. Water landward of the baseline in defined as internal waters over which the state has complete sovereignty. A country’s territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from its baseline (Figure 5.5). The contiguous zone is a zone of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea up to 24 nautical miles (44.4 km) from the baseline.

An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends from the base line to a maximum of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km). 


A coastal nation has control of all economic resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining and oil exploration. Everything beyond EEZ is called International Waters or the High Seas. No nation has sovereign rights over this area.

Fact File

A nautical mile is based on the circumference of the earth, and is equal to one minute of latitude which is equivalent to one sixtieth of a degree of latitude. A nautical mile is a unit of measurement defined as 1,852 metres. Nautical miles are used in Navigational charts.


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