Exclusive economic zone

Sea areas in international rights

Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a seazone over which a state has
special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy
from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to
200 nautical miles from its coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the territorial sea and
even the continental shelf beyond the 200-mile limit.

Definition

The World's EEZs, shown in dark blue.

Generally, a state's EEZ extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370 km) out from its coastal
baseline. The exception to this rule occurs when EEZs would overlap; that is, state coastal
baselines are less than 400 nautical miles (740 km) apart. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the
states to delineate the actual maritime boundary. Generally, any point within an overlapping area
defaults to the nearest state.

A state's exclusive economic zone starts at the seaward edge of its territorial sea and extends
outward to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370,4 km) from the baseline. The exclusive
economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters which extends 12 NM
(22 km) into the sea Thus; the EEZ includes the contiguous zone. States also have rights to the
seabed of what is called the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (648 km) from the coastal
baseline, beyond the EEZ, but such areas are not part of their EEZ. The legal definition of the
continental shelf does not directly correspond to the geological meaning of the term, as it also
includes the continental rise and slope, and the entire seabed within the EEZ.

Origin of EEZ
The idea of allotting nations EEZs to give better control of maritime affairs outside territorial
limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century.
Initially, a country's sovereign territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km (range of
cannon shot) beyond the shore. In modern times, a country's sovereign territorial waters extend
to 12 nautical miles (~22 km) beyond the shore. In the early 1970s, Ecuador claimed territorial
waters extending to 200 nautical miles.

Rankings by area
This list includes dependent territories within their sovereign states (including uninhabited
territories), but does not include claims on Antarctica. EEZ+TIA is exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) plus total internal area (TIA).
EEZ km2

Shelf km2 EEZ+TIA km2

Country
United States
France
Australia
Russia
United Kingdom
New Zealand
Indonesia
Canada
Japan
China
Portugal
Chile
Brazil
Kiribati
Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia
Denmark
Papua New Guinea
Norway
India
Marshall Islands
Philippines
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Seychelles
Mauritius
Fiji
Madagascar
Argentina
Ecuador
Spain
Maldives
Somalia
Peru
Colombia
Cape Verde
Iceland
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Tonga
Bahamas
Palau
Mozambique
Costa Rica

11,351,000
11,035,000
8,505,348
7,566,673
6,805,586
6,682,503
6,159,032
5,599,077
4,479,388
3,879,666
3,877,408
3,681,989
3,660,955
3,441,810
3,177,593
2,996,419
2,551,238
2,402,288
2,385,178
2,305,143
1,990,530
1,590,780
1,589,477
1,535,538
1,336,559
1,284,997
1,282,978
1,225,259
1,159,063
1,077,231
1,039,233
923,322
825,052
815,915
808,158
800,561
751,345
749,790
663,251
659,558
654,715
603,978
578,986
574,725

2,193,526
389,422
2,194,008
3,817,843
722,891
277,610
2,039,381
2,644,795
454,976
831,340
92,090
252,947
774,563
7,523
419,102
19,403
495,657
191,256
434,020
402,996
18,411
272,921
36,282
156,337
39,063
29,061
47,705
101,505
856,346
41,034
77,920
34,538
55,895
82,000
53,691
5,591
108,015
3,575
11,483
8,517
106,323
2,837
94,212
19,585

21,814,306
11,655,724
16,197,464
24,664,915
7,048,486
6,953,478
8,019,392
15,607,077
4,857,318
13,520,487
3,969,498
4,431,381
12,175,832
3,442,536
5,141,968
2,997,121
4,761,811
2,865,128
2,770,404
5,592,406
1,990,711
1,890,780
1,618,373
2,756,575
1,337,014
1,287,037
1,301,250
1,812,300
3,939,463
1,333,600
1,545,225
923,622
1,462,709
2,101,131
1,949,906
804,594
854,345
749,816
675,440
660,305
668,658
604,437
1,380,576
625,825

Namibia
Yemen
Italy
Oman
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
Angola
Greece
Venezuela
Vietnam
Ireland
Libya
Cuba
Panama
Malaysia
Nauru
Equatorial Guinea
Republic of Korea
Thailand
Morocco (without Western Sahara)
Egypt
Turkey
Jamaica
Dominican Republic
Liberia
Honduras
Tanzania
Pakistan
Ghana
Saudi Arabia
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Gabon
Barbados
Cte d'Ivoire
Iran
Mauritania
Comoros
Sweden
Senegal
Netherlands
Ukraine
Uruguay
Guyana
North Korea
So Tom and Prncipe

564,748
552,669
541,915
533,180
532,775
532,619
518,433
505,572
470,666
417,663
410,310
351,589
350,751
335,646
334,671
308,480
303,509
300,851
299,397
274,577
263,451
261,654
258,137
255,898
249,734
249,542
241,888
235,999
235,349
228,633
217,313
215,611
202,790
186,898
176,254
168,718
165,338
163,752
160,885
158,861
154,011
147,318
142,166
137,765
132,826
131,397

86,698
59,229
116,834
59,071
220,332
32,453
48,092
81,451
107,759
365,198
139,935
64,763
61,525
53,404
323,412
41
7,820
225,214
230,063
53,746
61,591
56,093
9,802
10,738
17,715
68,718
25,611
51,383
22,502
107,249
42,285
28,625
35,020
426
10,175
118,693
31,662
1,526
154,604
23,092
77,246
79,142
75,327
50,578
54,566
1,902

1,388,864
1,080,637
843,251
842,680
1,209,353
598,229
1,765,133
637,529
1,382,716
748,875
480,583
2,111,129
460,637
411,163
665,474
308,501
331,560
400,529
812,517
721,127
1,265,451
1,045,216
269,128
304,569
361,103
362,034
1,186,975
1,117,911
473,888
2,378,323
1,141,081
287,351
470,458
187,328
498,717
1,797,468
1,190,858
165,987
602,255
355,583
192,345
750,818
318,381
352,734
253,364
132,361

Samoa
Suriname
Haiti
Algeria
Nicaragua
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Guatemala
Antigua and Barbuda
Tunisia
Cyprus
El Salvador
Finland
Bangladesh
Taiwan
Eritrea
Trinidad and Tobago
East Timor
Sudan
Cambodia
Guinea
Croatia
United Arab Emirates
Germany
Malta
Estonia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Belize
Bulgaria
Benin
Qatar
Congo, Republic of the
Poland
Dominica
Latvia
Grenada
Israel
Romania
The Gambia
Georgia
Lebanon
Cameroon
Saint Lucia
Albania
Togo
Kuwait

127,950
127,772
126,760
126,353
123,881
123,725
116,942
114,170
110,089
101,857
98,707
90,962
87,171
86,392
83,231
77,728
74,199
70,326
68,148
62,515
59,426
59,032
58,218
57,485
54,823
36,992
36,302
35,351
34,307
33,221
31,590
31,017
29,797
28,985
28,452
27,426
26,352
23,627
23,112
21,946
19,516
16,547
15,617
13,691
12,045
11,026

2,087
53,631
6,683
9,985
70,874
39,339
11,073
14,422
4,128
67,126
4,042
16,852
85,109
66,438
43,016
61,817
25,284
25,648
19,827
62,515
44,755
50,277
57,474
57,485
5,301
36,992
1,561
13,178
10,426
2,721
31,590
7,982
29,797
659
27,772
2,237
3,745
19,303
5,581
3,243
1,067
11,420
544
6,979
1,265
11,026

130,781
291,592
154,510
2,508,094
254,254
159,850
697,309
223,059
110,531
265,467
107,958
112,003
425,590
230,390
119,419
195,328
79,329
85,200
1,954,216
243,550
305,283
115,626
141,818
414,599
55,139
82,219
36,691
58,317
145,186
145,843
43,176
373,017
342,482
29,736
93,011
27,770
48,424
262,018
34,407
91,646
29,968
491,989
16,156
42,439
68,830
28,844

Syria
Bahrain
Brunei
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Montenegro
Djibouti
Lithuania
Belgium
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Singapore
Iraq
Monaco
Palestine
Slovenia
Jordan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Chad
Niger
Mali
Ethiopia
Bolivia
Zambia
Afghanistan
Central African Republic
South Sudan
Botswana
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Paraguay
Zimbabwe
Burkina Faso
Uganda
Laos
Belarus
Kyrgyzstan
Nepal
Tajikistan
Malawi
Hungary
Azerbaijan
Austria
Czech Republic
Serbia

10,503
10,225
10,090
9,974
7,745
7,459
7,031
3,447
1,606
1,067
771
288
256
220
166
50

1,085
10,225
8,509
653
3,896
3,187
7,031
3,447
1,593
1,067
771
256
220
59
50

195,683
10,975
15,855
10,235
21,557
30,659
72,331
33,975
2,346,464
1,772
439,088
290
6,276
20,493
89,508
51,259
2,724,900
1,564,100
1,284,000
1,267,000
1,240,192
1,104,300
1,098,581
752,612
652,090
622,984
619,745
582,000
488,100
447,400
406,752
390,757
274,222
241,038
236,800
207,600
199,951
147,181
143,100
118,484
93,028
86,600
83,871
78,867
77,474

Slovakia
Switzerland
Bhutan
Moldova
Lesotho
Armenia
Burundi
Rwanda
Republic of Macedonia
Swaziland
Kosovo
Luxembourg
Andorra
Liechtenstein
San Marino
Vatican City

49,035
41,284
38,394
33,846
30,355
29,743
27,834
26,338
25,713
17,364
10,887
2,586
468
160
61
0.44