The Dominica–France Maritime Delimitation Agreement is a 1987

treaty 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

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

and

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 ...

which delimits the

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

and the French islands of

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 ...

and

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

.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 treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sove ...

. The treaty was signed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 7 September 1987. The text of the treaty sets out two boundaries. The first boundary separates Dominica from Guadeloupe to its north. The boundary is long and is a simplified equidistant line that runs through the Dominica Passage 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 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. 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 (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime m ...

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

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, fem ...

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