Article 47(1) of the LOSC provides as follows :
An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines joining the outermost points of the outermost islands and drying reefs of the archipelago.
A key point is that the legal criteria of being an archipelago must be fulfilled in order to construct archipelagic baselines. In other words, a State which does not meet the legal definition of an archipelagic State is not entitled to draw archipelagic baselines. The language of this provision also suggests that the establishment of archipelagic baselines is facultative. Article 47 sets out conditions for drawing these baselines in some detail… how draw Archipelagic Baselines in the international law of the sea and LOSC?, Archipelagic Baselines, archipelagic State, High seas, LOSC, low-tide elevations, opinio juris, straight archipelagic baselines, territorial sea