The map above is a more accurate reflection of the economic territory of each of the world’s countries.
It includes not only land and territorial waters but also Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), which extend up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) off a country’s coast.
Exclusive Economic Zones give countries the exclusive right to develop resources within them and can be used for anything, including offshore wind farms, natural gas and oil extraction and/or access to finishing grounds.
The concept is a relatively recent one, only having been agreed to in 1982 at the Third United Nations Conference on the…