Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. Although in some countries the term ''maritime boundary'' represent borders of a maritime nation and are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they usually serve to identify international waters.

Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones; however, the terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries.

Some maritime boundaries have remained indeterminate despite efforts to clarify them. This is explained by an array of factors, some of which illustrate regional problems.

The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic and environmental implications.

Terminology

The terms boundary, frontier and border are often used as if they were interchangeable, but they are also terms with precise meanings.

A boundary is a line. The terms "frontier", "borderland" and "border are zones of indeterminate width. Such areas forms the outermost part of a country. Borders are bounded on one side by a national boundary. There are variations in the specific terminology of maritime boundary agreements which have been concluded since the 1970s. Such differences are less important than what is being delimited.

Features

Features which affect maritime boundaries include islands and the submerged seabed of the continental shelf.

The process of boundary delimitation in the ocean encompasses the natural prolongation of geological features and outlying territory. The process of establishing "positional" borders encompasses the distinction between previously resolved and never-resolved controversies.

Limits

The limits of maritime boundaries are expressed in polylines and in polygon layers of sovereignty and control, calculated from the declaration of a baseline. The conditions under which a state may establish such baseline are described in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A baseline of a country can be the low water line, a straight baseline (a line that encloses bays, estuaries, inland waters,...) or a combination of the two.

For example, in the map at the right which shows Australian Arctic Territorial (AAT) maritime zones, the Adélie Land or French territorial claim to Antarctica is indicated as a break the AAT waters. This portion of the Antarctic coast between 136° E and 142° E has a shore length of 350 km and associated maritime zones which are not recognized by all governments.

Zones

The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines. Coastal waters—the zone extending 3 nm. from the baseline. Territorial sea—the zone extending 12 nm. from the baseline. Contiguous zone—the area extending 24 nm. from the baseline. Exclusive Economic Zone—the area extending 200 nm. from the baseline except when the space between two countries is less than 400 nm.

In the case of overlapping zones, the boundary is presumed to conform to the equidistance principle or it is explicitly described in a multilateral treaty.

Contemporary negotiations have produced tripoint and quadripoint determinations. For example, the 1982 Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement, it was assumed that France has sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter Islands, a territory that is also claimed by Vanuatu. The northernmost point in the boundary is a tripoint with the Solomon Islands. The boundary runs in a roughly north–south direction and then turns and runs west–east until it almost reaches the 170th meridian east. The effect of these negotiated specifics is reflected in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.

History

The concept of maritime boundaries is a relative new concept. The historical record is a backdrop for evaluating border issues. The evaluation of historic rights are governed by distinct legal regimes in customary international law, including research and analysis based on acquisition and occupation the existence of rights ''ipso facto'' and ''ab initio''. The study of treaties on maritime boundaries is important as (a) as a source of general or particular international law; (b) as evidence of existing customary law; and (c) as evidence of the emerging development of custom. The development of "customary law" affects all nations.

The attention accorded this subject has evolved beyond formerly-conventional norms like the three-mile limit.

Treaties

Multilateral treaties and documents describing the baselines of countries can be found on the website of the United Nations.

For example, the Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement establishes ocean boundaries between Australia and New Caledonia in the Coral Sea (including the boundary between Australia's Norfolk Island and New Caledonia). It consists of 21 straight-line maritime segments defined by 22 individual coordinate points forming a modified equidistant line between the two territories. The effect of this treaty is incorporated in the map of Australian maritime zones at the right.

Disputes

Controversies about territorial waters tend to encompass two dimensions: (a) territorial sovereignty, which are a legacy of history; and (b) relevant jurisdictional rights and interests in maritime boundaries, which are mainly due to differing interpretations of the law of the sea.

Many disputes have been resolved through negotiations, but not all.

Unresolved maritime boundaries

thumb|right|The disputed maritime border between North and South Korea in the [[Yellow Sea|West Sea: A: United Nations-created Northern Limit Line, 1953 B: North Korea-declared "Inter-Korean MDL in the Yellow Sea", 1999

The locations of specific islands are reflected in the configuration of each maritime boundary, including

1–Yeonpyeong Island

2–Baengnyeong Island

3–Daecheong Island

---- 4-Jung-gu (Incheon Intl. Airport), 5-Seoul, 6-Incheon, 7-Haeju, 8-Kaesong, 9-Ganghwa County, 10-Bukdo Myeon, 11-Deokjeokdo, 12-Jawol Myeon, 13-Yeongheung Myeon ]]

Among the array of unsettled disputes, the maritime borders of the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea represent a visuallly stark contrast. A western line of military control between the two Koreas was unilaterally established by the United Nations Command in 1953. Although the North asserts a differently configured boundary line, there is no dispute that a few small islands close to the North Korean coastline have remained jurisdiction of the United Nations since 1953.

The map at the right shows the differing maritime boundary lines of the two Koreas. The ambits of these boundaries encompass overlapping jurisdictional claims. The explicit differences in the way the boundary lines are configured is shown in the map at the right.

In a very small area, this represents a unique illustration of differences in mapping and delineation strategies. On one hand, the United Nations-created boundary line ("A") reflects the geographic features of the coastal baseline. On the other hand, while the North Korean-declared boundary line does acknowledges specific non-DPKR island enclaves, its "Military Demarcation Line" in the ocean ("B") is essentially a straight line.

Violent clashes in these disputed waters include what are known as the first Yeonpyeong incident, the second Yeonpyeong incident, and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong.

See also

List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders

List of political and geographic borders

Exclusive Economic Zone

Arctic Cooperation and Politics

Territorial claims in the Arctic

International Seabed Authority

South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission

International Court of Justice

Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice

Permanent Court of Arbitration

Notes

References

Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). ''International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas.'' Routledge: New York. 10-ISBN 1-57958-375-X/13-ISBN 978-1-57958-375-0; OCLC 54061586

Carleton, Chris; Shelagh Furness and Clive Schofield. (2001). ''Developments in the Technical Determination of Maritime Space: Delimitation, Dispute Resolution, Geographical Information Systems and the Role of the Technical Expert.'' Durham, UK: IBRU. 10-ISBN 1-897643-47-0/13-ISBN 978-1-897643-47-1; OCLC 248943759

Charney, Jonathan I., David A. Colson, Robert W. Smith. (2005). ''International Maritime Boundaries,'' 5 vols. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 10-ISBN 0-7923-1187-6/13-ISBN 978-0-7923-1187-4; 10-ISBN 90-411-1954-X/13-ISBN 978-90-411-1954-4; 10-ISBN 90-411-0345-7/13-ISBN 978-90-411-0345-1; 10-ISBN 90-04-14461-7/13-ISBN 978-90-04-14461-3; 10-ISBN 90-04-14479-X/13-ISBN 978-90-04-14479-8; OCLC 23254092

Elferink, Alex G. Oude, (1994). ''The Law of Maritime Boundary Delimitation: a Case Study of the Russian Federation.'' Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff. 10-ISBN 0-7923-3082-X/13-ISBN 978-0-7923-3082-0; OCLC 123566768

Jagota, S. P. (1985). ''Maritime Boundary.'' Martinis Nijhoff: Dordrecht. 10-ISBN 90-247-3133-X/13-ISBN 978-90-247-3133-6; 10-ISBN 90-247-2616-6/13-ISBN 978-90-247-2616-5; OCLC 1175640

Koo, Min Gyu. (2010). ''Disputes and Maritime Regime Building in East Asia.'' Dordrecht: Springer. 10-ISBN 1-4419-6223-9/13-ISBN 978-1-4419-6223-2; OCLC 626823444

Kratochwil, Friedrich V., Paul Rohrlich, Harpreet Mahajan. (1985). ''Peace and Disputed Sovereignty.'' Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. 10-ISBN 0-8191-4953-5/13-ISBN 978-0-8191-4953-4; 10-ISBN 0-8191-4954-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-8191-4954-1; OCLC 12550771

Prescott, John Robert Victor and Gillian D. Triggs. (2008). ''International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography.'' Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. 13-ISBN 978-90-04-16785-8/10-ISBN 90-04-16785-4; OCLC 212375790

__________. (1985). ''The Maritime Political Boundaries of the World.'' London: Methuen. 10-ISBN 0-416-41750-7/13-ISBN 978-0-416-41750-0; OCLC 12582178

Valencia, Mark J. (2001). ''Maritime Regime Building: Lessons Learned and Their Relevance for Northeast Asia.'' The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 10-ISBN 90-411-1580-3/13-ISBN 978-90-411-1580-5; OCLC 174100966

Further reading

Donaldson, John and Alison Williams. "Understanding Maritime Jurisdictional Disputes: The East China Sea and Beyond," ''Journal of International Affairs,'' Vol. 59, No. 1.

External links

US Department of State, Limits in the Seas

Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase

*

ar:حدود بحرية

name	Henry Roberto Cuellar
image name	Henrycuellar.jpeg
birth date	September 19, 1955
birth place	Laredo, Texas
state	Texas
district	28th
termstart	January 3, 2005
preceded	Ciro Rodriguez
succeeded	Incumbent
party	Democratic
spouse	Imelda Cuellar
children	Christina Alexandra CuellarCatherine Ann Cuellar
religion	Roman Catholic
occupation	Attorney, Customs broker
residence	Laredo, Texas
alma mater	Laredo Junior College, Georgetown University, Texas A&M; International University, University of Texas at Austin }}

Henry Roberto Cuellar (born September 19, 1955) is the U.S Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district extends from the Rio Grande to the suburbs of San Antonio, including Guadalupe County and nearby Wilson County.

Early life, education, and pre-political career

Cuellar was born in Laredo, the seat of Webb County in southern Texas, where he has resided most of his life. Cuellar's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Martin S. Cuellar, Sr., were migrant workers who never completed schooling beyond the fifth grade. He is the oldest of eight children. His brother, Martin Cuellar, Jr., is the sheriff of Webb County, having been elected in 2008 over the incumbent fellow Democrat Rick Flores. A sister, Rosie Cuellar-Castillo, is the incoming Laredo municipal judge, having won a nonpartisan runoff election held on December 11, 2010.

Cuellar graduated in 1973 from J. W. Nixon High School, a classmate of future Webb County District Attorney Joe Rubio, Jr. Cuellar then procured an associate's degree from Laredo Community College (then known as Laredo Junior College), where he would later for a time instruct government courses on an adjunct basis. He then attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated ''cum laude'' with a bachelor's degree in foreign service. He also holds a master's degree in International Trade from Texas A&M; International University in Laredo and a Juris Doctor and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. With a total of five degrees, Cuellar is the most degreed member of Congress serving in the House.

Cuellar opened his own law firm in 1981 and became a licensed customs broker in 1983. He worked at his ''alma mater'', TAMIU, as an Adjunct Professor for International Commercial Law from 1984 to 1986.

Early political career

Texas House of Representatives

Prior to being elected to the United States House of Representatives, Cuellar was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 2001, having represented the major portion of Laredo. During his 14 years as Laredo’s state representative, he served in leadership positions in the House Appropriations, Higher Education, and Calendar committees. His most notable accomplishments in the Texas State Legislature included coauthoring the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which ensured health care for thousands of previously uninsured children, and cosponsoring the largest tax cut in Texas history, which included a three-day tax holiday for consumers and small businesses. He also served on several national legislative committees dealing with state budgets, the U.S./Mexico border, and international trade.

Texas Secretary of State

In 2001, Cuellar was appointed as Secretary of State of Texas by Republican Governor Rick Perry. As Secretary of State for nearly ten months, he supported new voter initiatives to register, educate, and protect voters’ rights, as well as efforts to expand the Border/Mexico Affairs office to help the colonias. He also implemented new technology to make state agencies more customer-friendly and results-oriented.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2002 In the 2002 election, Cuellar was the Democratic Party nominee for the House of Representatives in Texas's 23rd congressional district. He lost to five-term incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla by two percentage points in the closest race Bonilla had faced to that date. Bonilla was unseated in 2006 in the revised 23rd District.

;2004 Cuellar spent much of the early part of 2003 preparing for a rematch against Bonilla. However, the 2003 Texas redistricting shifted most of Laredo, which had been the heart of the 23rd since its creation in 1966, into the 28th district, represented by Democrat Ciro Rodriguez. Cuellar challenged Rodriguez for the nomination and won it by 58 votes. Cuellar's victory was one of only two primary upsets of incumbents, from either party, in the entire country.

The 28th district leans far more Democratic than the 23rd, and Cuellar's victory in the general election was a foregone conclusion. In November, he defeated Republican Jim Hopson of Seguin by a 20-point margin, becoming the first Laredoan in over 20 years elected to represent the 28th District of Texas. Cuellar's election to the House in 2004 was a standout for Democrats in a year in which Republicans otherwise gained seats in Texas' delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

;2006

On March 7, 2006, Cuellar again defeated Rodriguez in the Democratic primary with 52 percent of the vote in a three-way race. No Republican even attempted to file, ostensibly assuring him of reelection in November.

On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Texas Legislature violated the rights of Latino voters when it shifted most of Laredo out of the 23rd and replaced it with several heavily Republican San Antonio suburbs. As a result, nearly every congressional district from El Paso to San Antonio had to be redrawn, and the primary results for these districts were invalidated. A court drew a new map in which all of Laredo was moved into the 28th district while the south San Antonio area was moved to the 23rd. An election open to all candidates with a runoff if no candidate won 50% was scheduled for the date of the general election, November 7, 2006.

In the general election on November 7, 2006, Cuellar had no Republican opposition but handily defeated Ron Avery of McQueeney, the chairman of the conservative Constitution Party in Guadalupe County, and trial attorney and Democrat Frank Enriquez of McAllen by taking nearly 68 percent of the more than 77,000 votes cast in the House race.

Cuellar's two main political rivals, Bonilla and Rodriguez, ran against each other in the 23rd, and Rodriguez won the election in the runoff. The Republican Bonilla was hence out of Congress for the first time since his upset election in 1992.

;2008

Cuellar was unopposed in the March 4, 2008, Democratic primary.

In the November 4 general election, Cuellar easily defeated Republican James Taylor Fish (born 1958), a San Antonio-based health care consultant who resides in Cibolo in Guadalupe County. Jim Fish, as he is known, was a health care administrator for seventeen years while he served in the United States Air Force. He also taught finance in the Army-Baylor University Graduate School of Health Care Administration. Fish, an ordained Southern Baptist deacon, opposed same-sex marriage. Fish said that he decided to oppose Cuellar after watching the congressman's exchange with Sheriff Rick Flores over border security issues during a 2007 broadcast of the Glenn Beck television program, then on CNN.

Cuellar received 123,310 votes (68.7 percent) to Fish's 52,394 (29.2 percent) and 3,715 ballots (2.1 percent) for Libertarian Ross Lynn Leone (born September 8, 1946) of Seguin. In his native Webb County, Cuellar polled 41,567 votes (89.5 percent) to Fish's 4,089 votes (8.9 percent).

;2010

Cuellar was unopposed for his Democratic nomination in 2010. As a result of Cuellar's votes on cap and trade and the Obama health care initiative, two Republicans, Daniel Chavez, a utility company employee from Mission in Hidalgo County, and Bryan Keith Underwood (born ca. 1964), a carpenter from Seguin in Guadalupe County, filed for their party's nomination to oppose Cuellar in the November 2 general election. Underwood polled 13,599 votes (73.9 percent) to Chavez's 4,794 (26.1 percent).

Underwood raised more funds than Cuellar's prior Republican opponents, but questions were raised in Underwood's hometown newspaper, the ''Seguin Gazette'', about Underwood's criminal record, which includes a guilty plea for a felony criminal mischief charge, which is normally a misdemeanor. Underwood also on one occasion refused to present his identification to a law enforcement officer.

Cuellar prevailed, as expected, with 62,055 votes (56.2 percent) to Underwood's 46,417 (42 percent). The remaining 1,880 ballots (1.7 percent) were cast for the Libertarian Party choice Stephen Kaat. While Underwood won in Guadalupe, Wilson, McMullen, and Atascosa counties, Cuellar's margin in his own heavily Democratic Webb County (25,415 to 3,569) was more than enough otherwise to ensure his victory for a fourth term in the incoming Republican-majority House of Representatives.

Tenure

Cuellar is a member of the New Democrat Coalition. He has been given a Senior Whip position within the caucus and is also the Subcommittee Chairman for House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism. He also serves as the only Texas Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee.

Cuellar describes himself as a "moderate-centrist". In the 2006 primary, he gained the endorsement of the Club for Growth, a conservative group that usually endorses Republicans. He has not always been a party loyalist; he endorsed Republican George W. Bush for President in 2000 but supported John F. Kerry in 2004. Additionally, during Bush's 2006 State of the Union address, a ''Washington Post'' photographer snapped a photo of Cuellar standing on the Republican side of the aisle, beaming as President Bush affectionately grabbed his face. Soon after the release of this photo, campaign contributions for his Democratic primary opponent, Ciro Rodriguez, saw an immediate and significant increase. Cuellar defeated Rodriguez in the primary election and since then has seen an increased role within the Democratic House Caucus.

On June 26, 2009, Cuellar voted with the House majority to pass, 219-212, the cap and trade legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act. He also supported the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which also narrowly passed the House and in December 2009 met the threshold for shutting off debate in the U.S. Senate by a single vote. As a pro-life Democrat, Cuellar expressed concerns that the Senate health care bill allowed federal funding for abortion. Cuellar voted on March 21, 2010, for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed the chamber, 219-212, the same vote as "cap-and-trade."

On June 15, 2007, Cuellar announced that he was endorsing then U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for President in 2008: "Senator Clinton is the only candidate with the experience and toughness to hit the ground running on her first day in the White House." In 2007, Cuellar held a fundraiser for Clinton in Laredo, which raised over $200,000 – aided by the presence of former President Bill Clinton. Laredo's Democratic Mayor Raul G. Salinas joined Cuellar in early support of Hillary Clinton, who came to Laredo in October 2008 to endorse Cuellar's reelection to the U.S. House. On November 4, 2008, Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in Webb County with a margin of 71-28 percent.

Congressman Cuellar is the author and one of two main co-sponsors of legislation seeking to honor slain ICE agent Jaime Zapata. Billed as a border security bill, it would increase cooperation among state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies during investigations of human and drug smuggling from Mexico.

Committee assignments

Committee on Agriculture

*Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture

Committee on Homeland Security

*Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security (Ranking Member)

*Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence

Personal life

Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, have two daughters, Christina Alexandra and Catherine Ann. He has been recognized by the city of Laredo with two schools named in his honor: the Doctor Henry Cuellar Elementary School and the Representative Henry Cuellar Charter School.

References

External links

U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar ''official U.S. House site''

Henry Cuellar for Congressman ''official campaign site''

Profile at SourceWatch

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Category:Secretaries of State of Texas Category:People from Laredo, Texas Category:Members of the Texas House of Representatives Category:American politicians of Mexican descent Category:Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Category:Texas Democrats Category:Texas lawyers Category:American lawyers Category:Laredo Community College alumni Category:Hispanic and Latino American people in the United States Congress

la:Henricus Cuellar sv:Henry Cuellar