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The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water
Body of water

A body of water is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands....
 (or their drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
s) transcend international boundaries: ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s, large marine ecosystem
Large marine ecosystem

Large marine ecosystems are regions of the world's oceans, encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuary to the seaward boundaries of continental shelf and the outer margins of the major ocean current systems....
s, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s and estuaries, river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 systems (aquifer
Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
s), and wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
s.

Oceans, seas, and waters outside of national jurisdiction are also referred to as the high seas or, in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, mare liberum.

Ships sailing the high seas are generally under the jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
 of the flag state
Flag State

Flag State refers to the authority under which a country exercises regulatory control over the commercial vessel which is registered under its flag....
 (but this is obsolete as of November 16, 1994), since due to cases of piracy
Piracy

Piracy is a warlike act committed by a foreign nonstate actor, especially robbery or crime committed at sea, on a river, or sometimes on shore, either from a vessel flying no national flag, or one flying a national flag but without authorization from a nation....
 and slave trade, any nation can exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of hostis humani generis
Hostis humani generis

Hostis humani generis is a legal term of art, originating from the admiralty law, and referring to the peculiar status, before the public international law, of maritime Piracy, since time immemorial, and slave trade, since the 18th century....
 presuming they enter the nation's sovereign waters.






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The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water
Body of water

A body of water is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands....
 (or their drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
s) transcend international boundaries: ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s, large marine ecosystem
Large marine ecosystem

Large marine ecosystems are regions of the world's oceans, encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuary to the seaward boundaries of continental shelf and the outer margins of the major ocean current systems....
s, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s and estuaries, river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 systems (aquifer
Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
s), and wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
s.

Oceans, seas, and waters outside of national jurisdiction are also referred to as the high seas or, in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, mare liberum.

Ships sailing the high seas are generally under the jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
 of the flag state
Flag State

Flag State refers to the authority under which a country exercises regulatory control over the commercial vessel which is registered under its flag....
 (but this is obsolete as of November 16, 1994), since due to cases of piracy
Piracy

Piracy is a warlike act committed by a foreign nonstate actor, especially robbery or crime committed at sea, on a river, or sometimes on shore, either from a vessel flying no national flag, or one flying a national flag but without authorization from a nation....
 and slave trade, any nation can exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of hostis humani generis
Hostis humani generis

Hostis humani generis is a legal term of art, originating from the admiralty law, and referring to the peculiar status, before the public international law, of maritime Piracy, since time immemorial, and slave trade, since the 18th century....
 presuming they enter the nation's sovereign waters. Mare liberum still applies to this day as not all nations have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Treaty
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982....
, yet some nations still abide by the doctrine. Mare Liberum is the 'freedom of the sea,' where all jurisdictions are quashed in modern legal systems except those under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world....
; this will be the case until all nations have signed and ratified the treaty. For these reasons international law is obfuscated.

International waterways

Zonmar En
Several international treaties have established freedom of navigation
Freedom of the seas

Freedom of the seas was one of President of the United States Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points proposed during the First World War. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans....
 on semi-enclosed seas.

  • The Copenhagen Convention of 1857 opened access to the Baltic
    Baltic Sea

    The Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53?N to 66?N latitude and from 20?E to 26?E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Denmark islands....
     by abolishing the Sound Dues
    Sound Dues

    The Sound Dues were a toll on the use of ?resund which constituted up to two thirds of Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centuries. The dues were introduced by King Eric of Pomerania in 1429 and remained in effect until the Copenhagen Convention of 1857....
     and making the Danish Straits
    Danish straits

    The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland....
     an international waterway free to all military and commercial shipping.
  • Several conventions have opened the Bosporus
    Bosporus

    The Bosporus or Bosphorus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part ....
     and Dardanelles
    Dardanelles

    .The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara....
     to shipping. The latest, the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits
    Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits

    The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits was a 1936 agreement that gives Turkey control over the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and regulates military activity in the region....
     maintains the straits' status as an international waterway.


Other international treaties have opened up rivers, which are not traditionally international waterways.

  • The Danube River has been internationalized so that landlocked Austria, Hungary and former Czechoslovakia (now only Slovakia has access to the Danube), and southern Germany (Germany itself is not landlocked, having access to both the North Sea
    North Sea

    The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
     and Baltic Sea) could have secure access to the Black Sea
    Black Sea

    The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
    .


Disputes over International waters

For more information see Territorial claims in the Arctic
Territorial claims in the Arctic

Under international law, no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic states, Russia, the United States , Canada, Norway and Denmark , are limited to a economic zone around their coasts....
 and Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
.

Current unresolved disputes over whether particular waters are "International waters" include:
  • The Arctic Ocean
    Arctic Ocean

    The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
    : While Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
    , Denmark
    Denmark

    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
    , Russia
    Russia

    Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
     and Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
     all regard parts of the Arctic seas as "national waters" or "internal waters
    Internal waters

    A nation's internal waters covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline from which a nation's territorial waters is defined....
    ", the United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
     and most European Union
    European Union

    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
     countries officially regard the whole region as international waters.


International waters agreements


Global agreements
  • (freshwater only).
  • The profiles agreements regarding the , and .
  • 1972 London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
     Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
    Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter

    The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dumping and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention....
     ()
  • 1973 London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
     International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 MARPOL
  • 1984 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (, United Nations - especially parts XII-XIV.)
  • 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses () - not ratified
  • Transboundary Groundwater Treaty, - proposed, but not signed
  • Other global conventions and treaties with implications for International Waters:
    • 1971 Ramsar Convention
      Ramsar Convention

      File:RAMSAR-logo.gifThe Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental Ecology functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational val...
       on Wetlands ()
    • 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity
      Convention on Biological Diversity

      The Convention on Biological Diversity, known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is an international treaty that was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992....
        especially Articles 12-13, as related to transboundary aquatic ecosystems)


Regional agreements
At least ten conventions are included within the of UNEP, including:
  1. the Atlantic
    Atlantic Ocean

    The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
     Coast of West
    West Africa

    West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
     and Central Africa
    Central Africa

    Central Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
     (
  2. the North-East Pacific (Antigua Convention);
  3. the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention
    Barcelona Convention

    The 1976 Barcelona Convention for Protection against Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea is a regional convention to prevent and abate pollution from ships, aircraft and land based sources in the Mediterranean Sea....
    );
  4. the wider Caribbean
    Caribbean

    The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
     (Cartagena Convention);
  5. the South-East Pacific (, 1986);
  6. the South Pacific
    Pacific Ocean

    The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
     (Nouméa Convention);
  7. the East Africa
    East Africa

    East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
    n seaboard (, 1985);
  8. the Kuwait
    Kuwait

    The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west....
     region (Kuwait Convention);
  9. the Red Sea
    Red Sea

    The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
     and the Gulf of Aden
    Gulf of Aden

    The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait....
     (Jeddah Convention).


Addressing regional freshwater issues is the 1992 Helsinki
Helsinki

Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
  (UNECE/Helsinki Water Convention)

Water body-specific agreements
  • Baltic Sea
    Baltic Sea

    The Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53?N to 66?N latitude and from 20?E to 26?E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Denmark islands....
     (Helsinki
    Helsinki

    Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
     , 1992)
  • Black Sea
    Black Sea

    The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
     (,1992), see also the ;
  • Caspian Sea
    Caspian Sea

    The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
     (, 2003)
  • Lake Tanganyika
    Lake Tanganyika

    Lake Tanganyika is a large lake in central Africa . It is estimated to be the List of lakes by volume in the world by volume, and the List of lakes by depth, after Lake Baikal in Siberia....
     (, 2003)

International waters institutions


Freshwater institutions
  • The UNESCO
    UNESCO

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
     International Hydrological Programme
    International Hydrological Programme

    The International Hydrological Programme is one of UNESCO's scientific programmes, which focuses on the use and availability of water....
     ()
  • The International Joint Commission
    International Joint Commission

    The International Joint Commission is an independent U.S.-Canada relations organization established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909....
     between Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
     and USA ()
  • The International Network of Basin Organizations
    International Network of Basin Organizations

    The International Network of Basin Organizations . It was established in 1901 under France law.It's objectives are to connect organizations interested in a global Drainage basin management....
     ()
  • The project
  • The (US Section) between Mexico
    Mexico

    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
     and USA
  • The International Water Management Institute
    International Water Management Institute

    IWMI, the International Water Management Institute is located in Battaramulla, Sri Lanka, and is a Centre of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research....
     ()
  • The World Conservation Union
    World Conservation Union

    The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to natural resource Conservation ethic....
     Water and Nature Initiative ()


Marine institutions
  • The International Maritime Organization
    International Maritime Organization

    The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , is a late 20th century creation....
     ()
  • The International Seabed Authority
    International Seabed Authority

    The International Seabed Authority is an intergovernmental body based in Kingston, Jamaica, that was established to organize and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying most of the world?s oceans....
  • The International Whaling Commission
    International Whaling Commission

    The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in Washington on 2 December 1946 to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry"....
  • The UNEP
  • The UNESCO
    UNESCO

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
     Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
    Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

    The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO. It first met in Paris at Unesco Headquarters from 19 to 27 October 1961....
     ()
  • The
  • The World Conservation Union
    World Conservation Union

    The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to natural resource Conservation ethic....
     Global Marine Program ()


See also

  • Freedom of the seas
    Freedom of the seas

    Freedom of the seas was one of President of the United States Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points proposed during the First World War. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans....
  • Baseline
    Baseline (sea)

    A baseline is the line from which the seaward limits of a State's territorial sea and certain other maritime zones of jurisdiction are measured....
  • Exclusive economic zone
    Exclusive Economic Zone

    Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an Exclusive Economic Zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine Natural resource....
  • Continental shelf
    Continental shelf

    The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
  • Territorial waters
    Territorial waters

    Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state....
  • Internal waters
    Internal waters

    A nation's internal waters covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline from which a nation's territorial waters is defined....
  • Birth aboard aircraft and ships
    Birth aboard aircraft and ships

    The subject of birth aboard aircraft and ships is one with a long history in public international law. The law on the subject, despite the provisions of Article 3 the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, is complex, because various states apply differing principles of nationality, namely jus soli and jus sanguinis, to va...
  • Seasteading
    Seasteading

    Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territories claimed by the governments of any countries, with the goal of the seasteads asserting their own sovereignty....
  • Hugo Grotius
    Hugo Grotius

    Hugo Grotius worked as a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law....


External links

  • Peace Palace Library
  • The GEF
    GEF

    GEF or Gef may refer to:*Gef the talking mongoose, a famed poltergeist story from the Isle of Man*Global Environment Facility*Graphical Editing Framework...
      (GEF IWRC)
  • The Integrated Management of Transboundary Waters in Europe ()
  • The
  • The (IWRA)
  • FAO
    • (MPAs) article
    • fisheries research portal
    • of the World portal
  • The UNDP-GEF
    GEF

    GEF or Gef may refer to:*Gef the talking mongoose, a famed poltergeist story from the Isle of Man*Global Environment Facility*Graphical Editing Framework...
      from which this article has been adapted.
  • UNEP freshwater thematic portal on
  • UNESCO
    UNESCO

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
     thematic portals for , ,
  • : A new Wiki-based on-line knowledge map and collaboration tool for Water-practitioners in the Europe & CIS
    Commonwealth of Independent States

    The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics.The CIS is comparable to a confederation similar to the original European Community....
     region