--- title: "Borders, Territory and the Sea" description: "Borders can follow physical features or lines of latitude and longitude. Disputes involve legal rules, competing evidence and the people affected. At sea, territorial sovereignty differs from resource" canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/geography/borders-territory-and-the-sea-mt_vsZWx6C8fM source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/geography/borders-territory-and-the-sea-mt_vsZWx6C8fM.md retrieved: 2026-11-12 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Borders, Territory and the Sea Borders can follow physical features or lines of latitude and longitude. Disputes involve legal rules, competing evidence and the people affected. At sea, territorial sovereignty differs from resource rights, and not every offshore rock generates an economic zone. Subject: Geography · Area: Places & Regions · Ages 16 to 18 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/geography/borders-territory-and-the-sea-mt_vsZWx6C8fM ## Ready when they can - Explain the difference between a border drawn along a physical feature and one drawn on a grid, and give a consequence of each - Explain an exclusive economic zone's resource rights, its limit of up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline, and why some offshore rocks cannot generate one - Take one contested border and set out what each side claims and on what basis ## Lesson: Borders, resources and legal duties Comparing regions asks how resources and choices shape daily life. Here, ask which state governs a place. Sovereignty means a state's authority to govern its territory. There is no world government that settles every border dispute. A treaty is an agreement between states. States still have duties under international law, including treaties that bind them. A state's preference does not by itself change an agreed boundary. Sea-zone limits are measured from a coastal baseline. A territorial sea can extend up to 12 nautical miles from it. The coastal state has sovereignty there, subject to passage rights. Beyond it, an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) can reach 200 nautical miles from the baseline. It gives resource rights, including fishing and offshore oil and gas, while other states retain navigation rights. Overlapping entitlements need a boundary settlement. *(drawing: The maximum EEZ outer limit is measured from the baseline. This scale does not show the territorial sea or a settled boundary with a neighbour.)* A naturally formed island is surrounded by water and stays above water at high tide. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, rocks unable to sustain human habitation or economic life of their own have no EEZ or continental shelf of their own. They can have a territorial sea. Having no residents today does not establish that a feature meets this rock exception. An artificial island generates no sea zones of its own. A river border follows a physical feature. If the river changes course, the treaty or other boundary rule determines whether the legal border moves too. A grid border follows a line of latitude or longitude. Either kind can divide communities or affect access to resources. The line's shape alone does not make its effects fair. To compare claims, identify the boundary rule and check what each piece of evidence establishes. Treaties, maps and river measurements may answer different questions. Include effects on local communities. A court needs jurisdiction, meaning legal authority to hear a case, before it can issue a binding judgment in that case. Rejecting such a judgment does not cancel the duty to comply. Carrying it out can still require negotiations or international pressure. *(drawing: Separate a claim, its supporting evidence and its effects on people. Check court authority and enforcement as separate questions.)* **Example.** In the Kasikili/Sedudu Island case, Botswana and Namibia disputed an island in the Chobe River. An 1890 treaty put the boundary in the river's main channel. Botswana argued for the northern channel; Namibia argued for the southern channel. The ICJ, the International Court of Justice, examined the treaty and river evidence. In 1999 it identified the northern channel as the boundary and found that the island belonged to Botswana. **Recap.** Check the boundary rule, competing evidence and effects on people. At sea, distinguish sovereignty from resource rights. A binding judgment and action to carry it out are separate questions. *Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset. Maritime rules refer to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Historical case: the International Court of Justice's 1999 Kasikili/Sedudu Island judgment.* ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Optional connections - [Where Your Things Are Actually Made](https://lightmysky.com/learn/geography/where-your-things-are-actually-made-mt_d1ovR3Nk3S) ## Opens up - [Where Illness Spreads and Why](https://lightmysky.com/learn/geography/where-illness-spreads-and-why-mt_U2Hkw5FbiV)