Map who has jurisdiction over every stretch of sea

Fisheries, offshore energy and marine conservation work all start with jurisdiction: whose water it is, and which rights apply there. This map draws every zone in the Marine Regions maritime boundaries, from internal waters out to the 200 NM exclusive economic zone, including overlapping claims.

Maritime zones of the world

Data: Marine Regions Maritime Boundaries v12 (Flanders Marine Institute, CC BY 4.0)
Method: one fill per regime: internal waters, the 12 NM territorial sea, the 24 NM contiguous zone, the 200 NM EEZ, and overlapping claims naming every claimant

-- Zones per regime: a zone's parts share its Marine Regions id, so it counts once
SELECT zone,
       COUNT(DISTINCT mrgid)      AS zones,
       COUNT(*)                   AS polygons,
       COUNT(DISTINCT sovereign1) AS sovereigns
FROM   maritime_zones
GROUP  BY zone
ORDER  BY zones DESC;

Sovereignty ends at the 12 NM limit; the EEZ gives resource rights only (UNCLOS articles 56 to 58).

Run it on your data

Upload licence blocks, survey areas or protected-area polygons and intersect them with the zones to see which regime each one falls under. See supported files.

Next step

• Open the map in the gallery
• Why area needs the right units
• Book a demo