The 1996 France – United Kingdom Maritime Delimitation Agreements are two

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which

establish Establishment may refer to: * The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization * The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England * The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...

a number of

maritime boundary A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...

between French territories and British territories in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

.Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). Both treaties were signed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 27 June 1996. The two treaties entered into force on 30 January 1997 after they had been

ratified Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

by both states.

First treaty

The first treaty delimits the boundary in the

Anguilla Channel The Anguilla Channel () is a strait in the Caribbean Sea. It separates the island of Anguilla (a British Overseas Territory) in the north from the Collectivity of Saint Martin, an overseas collectivity of France on the island of Saint Martin, i ...

between the British territory of

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

and the French territories of Saint Martin and

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

. The boundary is a simplified equidistant

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 ...

line that runs in roughly an east–west direction. It consists of seven straight-line segments defined by eight individual coordinate points. The western end of the border forms a

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

and the easternmost end of the border forms the tripoint with

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. The full name of the treaty is ''Agreement on maritime delimitation between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, on one hand, and Anguilla on the other''. When the treaty was signed, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy were both part of the

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

of France. In 2007, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy became two separate

overseas collectivities The France, French overseas collectivities ( abbreviated as COM) are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the regions of France, French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French Overseas ter ...

of France. As a result, the first treaty now defines only the Anguilla – Saint Martin maritime boundary. There is no maritime boundary between Anguilla and the separate collectivity of Saint Barthélemy.

Second treaty

The second treaty delimits the boundary between the British territory of

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

and the French territory of

. The boundary is a simplified equidistant line that runs through the Guadeloupe Passage in roughly an east–west direction. It consists of four straight-line segments defined by five individual coordinate points. The western end of the border forms the

with

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and the easternmost end of the border forms a tripoint with

Notes

References

* Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ''International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas.'' Routledge: New York.
OCLC 54061586

External links

Full text of first treaty (Anguilla – Saint Martin/Saint Barthélemy)Full text of second treaty (Guadeloupe – Montserrat)
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 France-United Kingdom Maritime Delimitation Agreements France - United Kingdom Maritime Delimitation Agreements France - United Kingdom Maritime Delimitation Agreements France - United Kingdom Maritime Delimitation Agreements Treaties concluded in 1996 Boundary treaties Guadeloupe–Montserrat border France–United Kingdom treaties Anguilla–Collectivity of Saint Martin border Treaties entered into force in 1997 United Nations treaties Treaties extended to Guadeloupe Treaties extended to Anguilla Treaties extended to Montserrat June 1996 in France June 1996 in the United Kingdom fr:Frontière entre la France et le Royaume-Uni

First treaty

Second treaty

See also

Notes

References

External links