Genesis of the Concept of the Continental ShelfGeologically, the continental shelf is an area adjacent to a continent or around an island extending from the low-water line to the depth at which there is usually a marked increase of slope to greater depth. Before World War II, natural resources in the seabed and its subsoil had attracted little interest between States. However, natural resources in theseabed and its subsoil, in particular, an extensive reserve of oil, have attracted growing interest since World War II because of the increased demand for petrol. Furthermore, technological progress at the turn of the twentieth century enabled the continental shelf’s hydrocarbon resources to be extracted from the surface of the sea. Against that background, on 28 September 1945, the United States took the decisive step with the Truman Proclamation to extend its jurisdiction over the natural resources of the continental shelf. The Truman Proclamation declared:Having Concern for the urgency of conserving and prudently utilizing its natural resources, the Government of the United States regards the natural resources of the subsoil and sea bed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but contiguous to the coasts of the United States as appertaining to the United States, subject to its jurisdiction and control. The unilateral action of the United States created a chain reaction, and many States unilaterally extended their jurisdiction towards the high seas. The Latin American States – which have virtually no continental shelf in a geological sense – claimed their full sovereignty over all the seabed at whatever depth and over all the adjacent seas at whatever depth, to a distance of 200 nautical miles. While State practice was not consistent until the early 1950s, the vast majority of States were prepared to agree to create a new zone relating to the exploitation of natural resources on the continental shelf with the passage of time. Thus a legal regime governing the continental shelf was, for the first time, enshrined in the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf. In this regard, the ICJ, in the 1969 North Sea Continental Shelf cases, took the view that Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention on the Continental Shelf, which included the definition of the continental shelf, were ‘regarded as reflecting, or as crystallizing, received or at least emergent rules of customary international law relative to the continental shelf’. Today there is no doubt that the rights of the coastal State over the continental shelf are well established in customary international law. Spatial Scope of the Continental ShelfThe landward limit of the continental shelf in the legal sense is the seaward limit of the territorial sea. In this respect, Article 1 of the Convention on the Continental Shelf stipulates that the continental shelf is the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast but outside the area of the territorial sea. Similarly, Article 76(1) of the LOSC states that ‘the continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the…

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