UN Accepts Extension Of Uruguay's Continental Shelf To 350 Miles
UN Accepts Extension Of Uruguay's Continental Shelf To 350 Miles
MONTEVIDEO, Aug 20 (BERNAMA-NNN-MERCOPRESS) -- The United Nations accepted the proposition of the Uruguayan government to extend the Uruguayan territorial seabed from 200 to 350 miles.
Uruguay thus becomes the first South American nation to receive the approval of the UN for such request.
The Convention on the Law of the Sea of the United Nations upheld the Uruguayan request, which involves the addition of 80,500 square kilometers in the Atlantic ocean where the country will have exclusive rights on marine reserves and living resources attached to the continental shelf but not those resources living in the water column beyond the 200 miles Exclusive Economic Zone.
It is expected that the ruling in favor of Uruguay, which currently has a recommendatory character, will be in force from February 2015, according to Uruguayan government sources. The new area is equivalent to almost 50% of the country's land mass.
The Uruguayan government with help from Canada, Italy, UK and other countries collected for years technical and scientific information that helped prove among other things, that its continental shelf extends effectively beyond the 200 miles.
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