Continental Shelf Law

Continental Shelf Law refers to the legal principles governing the rights of countries over the seabed and subsoil of the continental shelf, which is the underwater land extending from a country's coastline to the continental slope. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal nations have the right to explore and exploit natural resources, like oil and gas, on their continental shelves, usually up to 200 nautical miles from their shores. If countries wish to claim beyond this limit, they must provide scientific evidence to support their claims.