Exclusive Economic Zone Explained
Last updated: Sunday April 11th, 2021
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Borders. They separate one nation, country, territory, or region from another. But do you think these can exist in the ocean? It turns out they can. Each country that has a coastline has an Exclusive Economic Zone, also known as an EEZ. Each of the 152 nations with coastlines has an EEZ. Some are small, like Bosnia's EEZ, with only 50 nautical miles. Others are massive, like Micronesia's EEZ, which is more than 3 million nautical miles! Yeah, Micronesia, a group of islands that is smaller than Hong Kong. EEZs extend up to 200 nautical miles away from a countries' coast. A countries' EEZ might extend less than 200 nautical miles because of one main reason: there are other countries. Take a look at this map:
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The first thing you probably noticed is the large areas around islands. Places such as St. Helena, Bermuda, and Micronesia tend to have enormous EEZs because there are no other countries to block them. Others, such as those in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, have smaller EEZs because other countries block the EEZs.
Now, Let's look into some countries' EEZs.
France
France has the world's largest EEZ, even though it is a medium-sized European country. Many of France's overseas departments and territories have huge EEZs. Seven of these have larger EEZs than Metropolitan France, even though Metropolitan France has the most surface area. Plus, many of these are little known, and I for, one haven't heard one several of these before. Also, France has a claim in Antarctica. However, I have not included it in the list below.
Areas part of the French EEZNameEEZ Area in MilesFrench Polynesia2,964,617New Caledonia883960Crozet Islands357,014Kerguen Islands352,772Île Saint-Paul and Île Amsterdam316,287Tromelin Iland168,052Clipperton Island 267,974Îles Éparses (without Tromelin Island)218,795Metropolitan France207,913Wallis and Futuna160,481Reunion Islands195,768French Guiana83,232Guadeloupe59,638Mayotte39,195Martinique29,602Saint Pierre And Miquelon7,664Saint Barthélemy2669Saint Martin662United States
The United States of America has the second-largest EEZ in the world, mainly due to Alaska, Hawaii, and several small islands in the Pacific. Surprisingly, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have a bigger EEZ than any other part of the USA, apart from Alaska. One cool thing about this list is Puerto Rico. It is one of the larger ones on this list, but it is the second last here.
Areas part of the American EEZNameEEZ Area in MilesAlaska1,455,613Northwestern Hawaiian Islands609,863US East Coast353,578Southeastern Hawaiian Islands345,695US West Coast318,746Northern Mariana Islands289,294US Golf Coast273,295Johnson Atoll170,902Howland and Baker Islands167,924Wake Islands167,924American Samoa156,136Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef136,000Jarvis Island122,265Guam85,523Puerto Rico68,605US Virgin Islands13,029United Kingdom
About a hundred years ago, the United Kingdom created an empire spanning a fourth of the Earth. Even today, the sun never sets on the British Empire because of the many islands it possesses. One weird thing is that the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus have no EEZ area even though it has a coastline. Like France, the UK has a claim in Antarctica, but I haven't included it in the list.
Areas part of the British EEZNameEEZ Area in Miles Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha1,019,853South George and South Sandwich Islands 559,667Pitcairn Islands322,823United Kingdom298,718British Indian Ocean Territory246,552Falkland Islands212,693Bermuda173,890Turks and Caicos Islands59,486Cayman Islands45,999Anguilla35,590British Virgin Islands30,933Channel Islands4,501Montserrat2,927Gibraltar164Akrotiri and Dhekelia0Norway
Norway has an interesting EEZ. It has a very long coastline in Europe, but it has some overseas possessions such as Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and Bouvet Island. Like the UK and France, I haven't included Norway's claims in Antarctica.
Areas part of the Norwegen EEZMainland Norway791,305Bouvet Island270920Svalbard250,148Jan Mayen169,708Thank you for reading! If you would like to learn more, this is a great Wikipedia Page that talks about this subject in much more detail.
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It's not the blog where I learnt the most, because I'm French and, as you said, France has the largest EEZ, so we very often learn about it at school, but it's an excellent idea, and it's very well explained. The tables help a lot.
Once again congratulations, and good continuation!
P.S.: Vive la France!