The Dominica–France Maritime Delimitation Agreement is a 1987

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

between

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

which delimits the

maritime boundary 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 Bound ...

between

and the French islands of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

and

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

.Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ; Charney, Jonathan I. ''et al.'' (2005). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' Vol. 1, p. 705. It was the first maritime boundary treaty in the Central America/Caribbean region to be based on the rules of the

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 ...

. The treaty was signed in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 7 September 1987. The text of the treaty sets out two boundaries. The first

boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment *Boundaries (2016 film), ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film *Boundaries (2018 film), ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip ...

separates Dominica from Guadeloupe to its north. The boundary is long and is a simplified equidistant line that runs through the

Dominica Passage Dominica Passage is a strait in the Caribbean. It separates the islands of Dominica, from Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe. It is a pathway from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean.Ana G. López MartíInternational Straits: Concept, Classification ...

in roughly an east–west direction. It consists of seven straight-line

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

segments defined by eight individual coordinate points. The more southern boundary separates Dominica from Martinique to its south. The boundary is long and is a simplified equidistant line that runs through the

Martinique Passage Martinique Passage (also called Dominica Channel) is a strait in the Caribbean that separates Dominica and Martinique.

in roughly an east–west direction and roughly parallel to the first boundary. It consists of five straight-line segments defined by six individual coordinate points. The treaty came into force on 23 December 1988 after it had been

ratified Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inte ...

by both states. The full name of the treaty is ''Agreement on Maritime Delimitation between the Government of French Republic and the Government of Dominica''. The treaty was signed by

French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

and Dominica Prime Minister

Eugenia Charles Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, (15 May 1919 – 6 September 2005) was a Dominican politician who was Prime Minister of Dominica from 21 July 1980 until 14 June 1995. The first female lawyer in Dominica, she was Dominica's first, and to date only, fe ...

Notes

References

* Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ''International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas.'' Routledge: New York.
OCLC 54061586
* Charney, Jonathan I., David A. Colson, Robert W. Smith. (2005). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' 5 vols. Hotei Publishing: Leiden. ; ; ; ;
OCLC 23254092

External links

Full text of agreement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominica-France Maritime Delimitation Agreement Treaties concluded in 1987 Treaties entered into force in 1988 Dominica–France relations 1987 in Dominica 1987 in the Caribbean 1987 in France Dominica–Guadeloupe border Dominica–Martinique border Treaties of Dominica Boundary treaties Treaties of France United Nations treaties Treaties extended to Martinique Treaties extended to Guadeloupe

See also

Notes

References

External links