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Arctic

Maritime Limits and Boundaries of United States of America

Dataset Summary

Agency	NOAA's Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey (OCS)
Sub-Agency/Organization
Category	Administrative and Political Boundaries, Cadastral
Date Released	20120720
Date Updated
Time Period	20120720
Frequency	Continually
Description	NOAA is responsible for depicting on its nautical charts the limits of the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea, 24 nautical mile Contiguous Zone, and 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The outer limit of each of these zones is measured from the U.S. normal baseline, which coincides with the low water line depicted on NOAA charts and includes closing lines across the entrances of legal bays and rivers, consistent with international law. The U.S. baseline and associated maritime limits are reviewed and approved through the interagency U.S. Baseline Committee, which is chaired by the U.S. Department of State. The Committee serves the function of gaining interagency consensus on the proper location of the baseline using the provisions of the 1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, to ensure that the seaward extent of U.S. maritime zones do not exceed the breadth that is permitted by international law. In 2002 and in response to mounting requests for digital maritime zones, NOAA launched a project to re-evaluate the U.S. baseline in partnership with other federal agencies via the U.S. Baseline Committee. The focus of the baseline evaluation was NOAA's largest scale, most recent edition nautical charts as well as supplemental source materials for verification of certain charted features. This dataset is a result of the 2002-present initiative and reflects a multi-year iterative project whereby the baseline and associated maritime limits were re-evaluated on a state or regional basis. In addition to the U.S. maritime limits, the U.S. maritime boundaries with opposite or adjacent countries as well as the US/Canada International Boundary (on land and through the Great Lakes) are also included in this dataset.

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Dataset Information

Data.gov Data Category Type	Geodata
Specialized Data Category Designation	Geospatial
Keywords	None, GIS, Polyline, Maritime, Boundary, Limit, Law of the Sea, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, Exclusive Economic Zone, Presidential Proclamation No. 5928, December 1988, Presidential Proclamation No. 7219, August 1999, Presidential Proclamation No. 5030, March 1983, US/Russia Maritime Boundary Agreement, 1990, Federal Register, Vol 60, No. 163, August 23, 1995, ICJ Judgment, Gulf of Maine, 1984, International Boundary Commission, US/Cook Islands Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1980, US/Cuba Maritime Boundary Agreement, 1977, US/Japan Exchange of Notes, 1994, US/Mexico Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1970, US/Mexico Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1978, US/New Zealand (Tokelau) Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1980, US/Niue Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1997, US/UK (Anguilla) Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1993, US/UK (British Virgin Islands) Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1993, US/Venezuela Maritime Boundary Treaty, 1978, ISO 19115 Topic Category, boundaries, planningCadastre, NOS Data Explorer Topic Category, Marine Boundaries, Nautical Charting, Geographic Names Information System, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Johnston Atoll, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Wake Island, American Samoa, Howland Island, Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll
Unique ID	F3EC5953-A590-C3D4-68E3-7D6C95E13A0B

Contributing Agency Information

Citation	Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS)
Agency Program Page
Agency Data Series Page	http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/mbound.htm

Dataset Coverage

Unit of Analysis
Granularity
Geographic Coverage	140.0, -60.0, 74.708840, -17.555000

Data Description

Collection Mode
Data Collection Instrument
Data Dictionary/Variable List

Additional Dataset Documentation

Technical Documentation
Additional Metadata	XML Format

OMB Control No. 3090-0284