ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a broad summary of progress towards maritime boundary delimitation. Discussions of offshore boundaries generally make a point of distinguishing between territorial sea boundaries, continental shelf boundaries, and boundaries between zones of extended economic jurisdiction, usually fisheries. Coastal states have increasingly sought to establish single 'maritime' boundaries for all purposes, to a maximum distance of 200 nautical miles, a trend which seems likely to continue. Although land boundary disputes commonly occur, the trend is towards formal agreements and progressive demarcation on the ground. By contrast, the maritime political map of the world is in its infancy, and it will probably take several decades before any accurate world map of offshore boundaries can be drawn. The regional distribution of agreements reveals few real surprises. Territorial disputes occur where there is no agreement as to sovereignty over islands, or on the alignment of the land boundary where it comes down to the sea.
