Limit of Oceans and Seas - 1st Edition - 1928

''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' ( or , S-23) is a special publication of the

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

(IHO) defining the names and

borders of the oceans The borders of the oceans are the limits of Earth's ocean, oceanic waters. The definition and number of oceans can vary depending on the adopted criteria. The principal divisions (in descending order of area) of the five oceans are the Pacific ...

and seas. The publication serves as an

international standard An international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International O ...

for

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

ing and

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

ing and is also consulted by others involved in maritime activities. It is authored by the organization's secretariat, the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB), and approved by IHO member states. It only covers sea surface features; undersea features are standardized in another IHO publication, the GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names. It is slated to be replaced by a digital dataset by 2026.

History

A resolution at the 1919 International Hydrographic Conference called for the development of an international standard for defining maritime features. The IHB published the first edition of ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' in 1928. Subsequent editions were published in 1937 and 1953. This third edition is currently in force. The third edition's age is recognized as a growing technical problem, but the IHO member states have been unable to reach agreement on updates to the standard due to political conflicts arising out of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. A fourth edition was drafted in 1986 and nearly approved. Further development of the working draft began in 1998. Changes included a new title, ''Names and Limits of Oceans and Seas'', and new names for 60 seas. In August 2002, it was resubmitted to IHO member states for approval, with the intention of distributing it in both print and digital formats. However, voting was suspended the following month, pending agreement between

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

regarding the international standard name of the sea called "Japan Sea" in the 1953 edition. The IHO subsequently began work on a digital map of sea limits, ''Polygonal Demarcations of Global Sea Areas Product Specification and Dataset'' (S-130), based on modern a

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...

. In April 2019, diplomats from North and South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan met in private to resolve the Sea of Japan naming dispute. They agreed to adopt a system of numeric identifiers for seas and abandon efforts to revise S-23, leaving in place the analog publication during development of the digital dataset. On November 16, 2020, IHO member states adopted this compromise in a virtual session. The IHO plans to release S-130 by 2026.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Limits of Oceans and Seas
IHO Standards and Specifications

Full text of the third edition

Polygonal Demarcations of Global Sea Areas Product Specification and Dataset (S-130) Project Team
International standards Publications established in 1937 Government publications International Hydrographic Organization