Exclusive Economic Zone Explained

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.

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United 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.

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United 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.

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Norway

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.

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Thank 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.