Continental shelves and Exclusive Economic Zones

✔️ In geological terms, the continental shelf is defined as the seabed and subsoil that is the prolongation of a country’s landmass, extending beyond its territorial sea.

✔️ The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a zone in which a country has special rights to exploration, use of natural resources, wind and hydro-power generation, and other economic activities like laying of pipelines, fishing and so on.

✔️ As per the UNCLOS, the continental shelf extends to 200 nautical miles from the country’s coastal baseline but is within its continental margin.

✔️ A country has sovereign rights over the natural resources in the water and the seabed and soil within its continental shelf.

✔️ EEZs also extend to 200 nm from the coastline.