United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is the main international treaty governing the use of the oceans. It was opened for signature at Montego Bay, Jamaica, in December 1982, after nine years of negotiations at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It sets a territorial sea of up to twelve nautical miles, an exclusive economic zone of up to two hundred nautical miles in which coastal states control resources, and rules on the continental shelf, navigation and the deep seabed. It also created the International Seabed Authority and a tribunal for sea disputes. The convention entered into force in 1994 and has been joined by most countries, though the United States has not ratified it.

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