United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea

Explanation :

• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty which was adopted and signed in 1982. The Convention came into effect in November, 1994.
• It replaced the four Geneva Conventions of April, 1958, which respectively concerned the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources on the high seas.
• Also known as Law of the Sea, UNCLOS divides marine areas into five main zones namely- Internal Waters, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the High Seas.
• The Convention has created three new institutions on the international scene :
• -International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, headquartered in Hamburg (Germany)
• -International Seabed Authority, headquartered in Kingston (Jamaica)
• -Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, based in the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• It provides for full money rights to nations for a 200-mile zone by their shoreline.