The baselines of the Philippines ( fil, mga batayang-guhit ng Pilipinas) are the set of geodesic lines completely encircling the

Philippine archipelago The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited. by an act of the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of R ...

which was further amended in April 2009 to optimize and conform it to the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

, which the Philippines is a signatory to. A total of 101 basepoints providing for 100 baselines were identified under Republic Act No. 9522, which identified Amianan Island as the northernmost, Frances Reef as the southernmost, Pusan Point as its easternmost and the Balabac Great Reef as the westernmost points of the main Philippine archipelago.

Background

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,100 islands customarily enclosed by the lines demarcated by the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in 1898 and the Convention Between the United States and Great Britain in 1930, which came to be known in the Philippines as its ''International Treaty Limits''. The government of the Philippines has maintained its position that the waters enclosed by the demarcation lines in the said treaties form part of its

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

regardless of its breadth and dimension.

Baselines

The geographic coordinates below are referenced to the

World Geodetic System 1984 The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also descr ...

References

External links

Republic Act No. 3046, An Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the Philippines

Republic Act No. 5446, An Act to Amend Section One of Republic Act Numbered Thirty Hundred and Forty-six, Entitled “an Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the Philippines”

Republic Act No. 9522, An Act to Amend Certain Provisions of Republic Act No. 3046, as Amended by Republic Act No. 5446, to Define the Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines, and for Other Purposes
{{Geography of the Philippines, state=expanded Geography of the Philippines Law of the Philippines Law of the sea Borders of the Philippines

Background

Baselines

See also

References

External links