Maritime Boundaries
A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase General info retrieved 19 Nov 2010 encompassing maritime features, limits and zones.Geoscience Australia Maritime definitions retrieved 19 Nov 2010 Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction's coastline. Although in some countries the term ''maritime boundary'' represents borders of a maritime nation that are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime borders usually serve to identify the edge of international waters. Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones; however, the terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of la ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Continental Shelf
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an ''insular shelf''. The continental margin, between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, comprises a steep continental slope, surrounded by the flatter continental rise, in which sediment from the continent above cascades down the slope and accumulates as a pile of sediment at the base of the slope. Extending as far as 500 km (310 mi) from the slope, it consists of thick sediments deposited by turbidity currents from the shelf and slope. The continental rise's gradient is intermediate between the gradients of the slope and the shelf. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the name continental shelf was given a legal definition as the stretch of the seabed adjacent to the shores of a par ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matthew And Hunter Islands
Hunter Island and Matthew Island are two small and uninhabited high islands in the South Pacific, located east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago. Hunter Island and Matthew Island, apart, are claimed by Vanuatu as part of Tafea Province, and considered by the people of Aneityum part of their custom ownership, and were claimed by France as part of New Caledonia. Small, arid, without fresh water and not easily accessible, the islands had no interest for Britain or France during their colonisation of the Pacific in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. France officially annexed both islands in 1929. In 1965, the United Kingdom also claimed the two islands, as part of the New Hebrides. France conducted a symbolic occupation in 1975. In 1980, on its independence, Vanuatu claimed sovereignty, but made no occupation of the islands. In 1979, Météo-France set up an automatic weather station on one of the islands, and the French Navy regularly visits bo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement
The Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement is a 1982 treaty between Australia and France which establishes ocean borders between Australian territories and French territories.Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ; Charney, Jonathan I. ''et al.'' (1993). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' Vol. 1, p. 905; Charney, (1998). The treaty was signed in Melbourne on 4 January 1982. The treaty sets out two separate maritime boundaries. The first is the boundary between Australia and New Caledonia in the Coral Sea (including the boundary between Australia's Norfolk Island and New Caledonia). It consists of 21 straight-line segments defined by 22 individual coordinate points forming a modified equidistant line between the two territories. For purposes of drawing the treaty's equidistant lines, it was assumed that France has sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter Islands, a territory that is also claimed by Vanuatu. The northernmost point in the boundary is a tripoint with the Solomon Island ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quadripoint
A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners. Several examples exist throughout the world that use other names. Usage The word ''quadripoint'' does not appear in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' or ''Merriam-Webster Online'', though it has been used since 1964 by the Office of the Geographer of the United States Department of State. and appears in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', as well as in the ''World Factbook'' articles on Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, dating as far back as 1990. History An early instance of four political divisions meeting at a point is the Four Shire Stone in Moreton-in-Marsh, England (attested in the Domesday Book, 1086, and mentioned since 969 if not 772); until 1931, it was the meeting point of the English counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, lakes or seas. On dry land, the exact tripoints may be indicated by markers or pillars, and occasionally by larger monuments. Usually, the more neighbours a country has, the more international tripoints that country has. China with 16 international tripoints and Russia with 11 to 14 lead the list of states by number of international tripoints. Other countries, like Brazil, India and Algeria, have several international tripoints. Argentina has four international tripoints. South Africa, Pakistan and Nigeria have three international tripoints while Bangladesh and Mexico have only one. Within Europe, landlocked Austria has nine tripoints, among them two with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Island countries, such as Japan and Australia, have no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Equidistance Principle
The equidistance principle, or principle of equidistance, is a legal concept in maritime boundary claims that a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median line that is equidistant from the shores of neighboring nations. The concept was developed in the process of settling disputes in which the borders of adjacent nations were located on a contiguous continental shelf: The equidistance principle represents one aspect of customary international law, but its importance is evaluated in light of other factorsDorinda G. Dallmeyer ''et al.'' (1989). such as history: History The United States used equidistance in the 1805 Act of Congress that divided public lands by measurements as close as possible to "equidistant from those two corners which stand on the same line." One of the most notable historical events regarding equidistance is the Argument between Germany, Netherlands and Denmark. All three countries laid claim to a specific area within the ocean. Germany claimed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Baseline (sea)
A baseline, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is the line along the coast from which the seaward limits of a state's territorial sea and certain other maritime zones of jurisdiction are measured, such as a state's exclusive economic zone. Normally, a sea baseline follows the low-water line of a coastal state. When the coast is deeply indented, has fringing islands or is highly unstable, ''straight'' baselines may be used. Measurement of baseline The following methods are used to measure a baseline under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. Normal baseline Except where otherwise provided in this Convention, the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal State.Article 5 (UNCLOS 1982) Reefs In the case of islands situated on atolls or of islands having fringing reefs, the baseline for measuring the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two together, may be called a polygon. The segments of a polygonal circuit are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon's '' vertices'' (singular: vertex) or ''corners''. The interior of a solid polygon is sometimes called its ''body''. An ''n''-gon is a polygon with ''n'' sides; for example, a triangle is a 3-gon. A simple polygon is one which does not intersect itself. Mathematicians are often concerned only with the bounding polygonal chains of simple polygons and they often define a polygon accordingly. A polygonal boundary may be allowed to cross over itself, creating star polygons and other self-intersecting polygons. A polygon is a 2-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polyline
In geometry, a polygonal chain is a connected series of line segments. More formally, a polygonal chain is a curve specified by a sequence of points (A_1, A_2, \dots, A_n) called its vertices. The curve itself consists of the line segments connecting the consecutive vertices. Name A polygonal chain may also be called a polygonal curve, polygonal path, polyline,. piecewise linear curve, broken line or, in geographic information systems, a linestring or linear ring. Variations A simple polygonal chain is one in which only consecutive (or the first and the last) segments intersect and only at their endpoints. A closed polygonal chain is one in which the first vertex coincides with the last one, or, alternatively, the first and the last vertices are also connected by a line segment. A simple closed polygonal chain in the plane is the boundary of a simple polygon. Often the term "polygon" is used in the meaning of "closed polygonal chain", but in some cases it is important to dr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Outlying Territory
An outlying territory or separate area is a state territory geographically separated from its parent territory and lies beyond Exclusive Economic Zone of its parent territory. The tables below are lists of outlying territories which are marked by distinct, non-contiguous maritime boundaries or land boundaries: Outlying geographical regions Outlying territories outside the continent Outlying uninhabited dependent territories Outlying dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty Notes * ''1. Enclaves are not included''. * ''2. Disputed outlying territories in the Spratly Islands are not included''. See also * List of sovereign states * List of dependent territories A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ... External links Maritime bo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists broadly study the properties and processes of E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |