Internal waters in the context of "Innocent passage"

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⭐ Core Definition: Internal waters

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes waterways such as rivers and canals, and sometimes the water within small bays.

In internal waters, sovereignty of the state is equal to that which it exercises on the mainland. The coastal state is free to make laws relating to its internal waters, regulate any use, and use any resource. In the absence of agreements to the contrary, foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal waters, and this lack of right to innocent passage is the key difference between internal waters and territorial waters. The "archipelagic waters" within the outermost islands of archipelagic states are treated as internal waters with the exception that innocent passage must be allowed, although the archipelagic state may designate certain sea lanes in these waters.

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Internal waters in the context of Territorial waters

Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf (these components are sometimes collectively called the maritime zones). In a narrower sense, the term is often used as a synonym for the territorial sea.

Vessels have different rights and duties when passing through each area defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), one of the most ratified treaties. States cannot exercise their jurisdiction in waters beyond the exclusive economic zone, which are known as the high seas.

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Internal waters in the context of List of countries and territories by land borders

This list gives the number of distinct land borders of each country or territory, as well as the neighbouring countries and territories. The length of each border is included, as is the total length of each country's or territory's borders.

Countries or territories that are connected only by man-made structures such as bridges, causeways or tunnels are not considered to have land borders. However, borders along lakes, rivers, and other internal waters are considered land borders for the purposes of this article.

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Internal waters in the context of White Sea

The White Sea (Russian: Белое море, romanizedBeloye more; Karelian and Finnish: Vienanmeri, lit.'Dvina Sea'; Nenets: Сэрако ямʼ, romanized: Serako yam) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia. Administratively, it is divided between the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk oblasts and the Republic of Karelia.

The major port of Arkhangelsk is located on the White Sea. For much of Russia's history this was Russia's main centre of international maritime trade, conducted by the Pomors ("seaside settlers") from Kholmogory. In the modern era it became an important Soviet naval and submarine base. The White Sea–Baltic Canal connects the White Sea with the Baltic Sea.

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Internal waters in the context of Territorial claims in the Arctic

The Arctic consists of land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters above the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes North latitude). All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the eight Arctic coastal states: Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. International law regulates this area as with other portions of Earth.

Under international law, the North Pole and the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it are not owned by any country. The sovereignty of the five surrounding Arctic countries is governed by three maritime zones as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea:

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Internal waters in the context of Kvarner Gulf

The Kvarner Gulf (Croatian: Kvarnerski zaljev, Italian: Golfo del Quarnero or Carnaro; Venetian: Golfo del Carnaro; Latin: Sinus Flanaticus or Liburnicus sinus) sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal waters.

The largest islands within the Kvarner are Cres, Krk, Pag, Rab and Lošinj. A portion of the Kvarner Bay, located between Cres, Krk, Rab and Pag is also called Kvarnerić (literally "little Kvarner"; Italian: Golfo del Quarnerolo or Carnerolo), and the portion east of Krk and Rab is called Senj Channel (after the mainland town of Senj).

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Internal waters in the context of Brown-water navy

A brown-water navy or riverine navy, in the broadest sense, is a naval force capable of military operations in inland waters (rivers, lakes and inland seas) and nearshores. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, when it referred to Union forces patrolling the muddy Mississippi River, and has since been used to describe the small gunboats and patrol boats commonly used in rivers, along with the larger "mother ships" that supported them.

Brown-water navies are typically only used for patrolling and enforcing internal waters, in contrast to blue-water navies, which can independently conduct operations in the open oceans and project power far offshore. Green-water navies, which operate mainly in brackish estuaries, bays and shallow seas not too far off coasts (typically within the bounds of exclusive economic zones), fill the operational gap between brown-water and blue-water navies.

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