Accession Number:

ADA090818

Title:

International Boundary Study. Series A. Limits in the Seas. Number 42, Straight Baselines: Ecuador.

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON DC BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH

Personal Author(s):

Report Date:

1972-05-23

Pagination or Media Count:

14.0

Abstract:

Ecuadorean straight baselines were proclaimed most recently by Supreme Decree No. 959-A on June 28, 1971 Official Register No. 265 of July 13, 1971. The Decree established straight baselines adjacent to the mainland and around the Galapagos Islands Archipelago de Colon. However, the existence of straight baselines around the Galapagos Islands has been inferred since 1950. Neither the inferred 1950 nor the 1971 straight baselines have been published on official Ecuadorean charts. Ecuador claims a 200-nautical-mile territorial sea measured seaward from the straight baselines. The 200-nautical-mile claim was promulgated by Decree 1542 of November 10, 1966. Waters within the baselines of both the mainland and the Galapagos Islands are considered to be internal waters. Ecuador is not a party to the four 1958 Geneva conventions on the law of the sea. These conventions concern 1 the territorial sea and contiguous zone, 2 the high seas, 3 the continental shelf, and 4 fishing and conservation of living resources of the high seas. Author

Descriptors:

• *BOUNDARIES
• *GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
• *ECUADOR
• INTERNATIONAL
• LEGISLATION
• GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Subject Categories:

• Government and Political Science

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE