In the Law of the Sea, the continental shelf located beyond 200 nautical miles affects the seabed and its subsoil on which the coastal State exerts sovereign rights for purposes of exploration and exploitation of its natural ressources. In those areas, the wealth generated by the exploitation of the natural ressources are shared via the International Seabed Authority between the States which have signed UNCLOS (in particular with the developping States or the ones which do not have access to the sea). The outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles is determined in compliance with the criterias of Article 76 of UNCLOS and notably by the examination of a submission deposited by the Coastal State to the Commission for the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). the outer limit of the French continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles is the final result of the national program EXTRAPLAC after the adoption of recommandations by CLCS, the delineation of the attributed areas with neighbouring States if necessary and the publication by decree. The theme "Outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles" gathers the limits of the extended continental shelf which has been recommended by CLCS and published by a decree of the French Republic.

The combined error grid of the SIO V31 gravity anomaly model (D. T. Sandwell, H. Harper, B. Tozer et al., Gravity field recovery from geodetic altimeter missions, Advances in Space Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2019.09.011) is computed with a method described in a paper submitted to Earth and Space Science (AGU). The model’s extension is North Atlantic.

The theme "Agreed maritime boundaries" contains the delineation limits between maritime spaces under sovereignty or jurisdiction of France et neighbouring States which are established by ratification of a boundary agreement or by a decision of an arbitral tribunal or an international legal body entitled to deal with cases relating to the Law of the Sea.

French Ministry of Agriculture and Food / DRASSM - Shom<br /> The product "Limits related to fishery uses" contains the limits related to fishery uses as defined in the French or European legislations. Those limits are managed by the Directorate for Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. <br /> Those limits are divided into three categories : <br /> - the inner limit of the coastal waters (6 nautical miles) ; <br /> - the 3-nautical-mile limit ; <br /> - the limit of fisheries for overseas territories (100 nautical miles).<br /><br /> The product "Limits related to fishery uses" is to use in addition to the digital product “Maritime Limits and Boundaries” of Shom (French: “Délimitations maritimes”) which represents the limits of the French maritime spaces of sovereignty or jurisdiction through the World.<br /> The product “Maritime Limits and Boundaries” (French: “Délimitations maritimes”) can be viewed on data.shom.fr (Maritime boundaries Category) and downloaded on the French national portal of maritime limits (https://maritimelimits.gouv.fr).

In compliance with Article 57 of UNCLOS, the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is located at 24 nautical miles from the baselines. This limit distinguishes the EEZ from the High Sea. Beyond this limit, an extension of the continental shelf is possible subject to the criterias of Article 76 of UNCLOS. The objects of the theme "Outer limit of the exclusive economic zone" result from Shom computations and are compliant with Article 10 of the French Order No 2016-1687 of 8 December 2016. They are published by decree of the French Republic.

The contiguous zone is adjacent to the territorial sea and may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The coastal State may exercise the control necessary to: - prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea; - punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea.

French Ministry of Culture / DRASSM - Shom The product "Limit of preventive archeology licence fee" contains the limits for the preventive archeology licence fee (1 nautical mile) as defined in the French Heritage Code. This limit is managed by the Department of Underwater Archeological Research (DRASSM) of the Ministry of Culture. This limit, defined by the Heritage Code at 1 nautical mile from the low-water line, permits to delineate the areas where the licence fee for preventive archeology at sea is applied. The product "Limit of preventive archeology licence fee" is to use in addition to the digital product “Maritime Limits and Boundaries” of Shom (French: “Délimitations maritimes”) which represents the limits of the French maritime spaces of sovereignty or jurisdiction through the World. The product “Maritime Limits and Boundaries” (French: “Délimitations maritimes”) can be viewed and downloaded on the French national portal of maritime limits (https://maritimelimits.gouv.fr).

Compilation of marine gravity surveys acquired in the Northeast Atlantic by Shom between 2001 and 2016. These surveys were compiled to perform a quantification of the error of the gravity anomaly models derived from satellite altimetry. This dataset represents more than 22,000 measurement points distributed in 9 ascii survey files sampled at 1 kilometer. The file’s format is as follows: longitude latitude Gravity_anomaly error line_label.

The product “Maritime limits and boundaries” (French: “Délimitations maritimes”) gathers all the elements used for the definition of the maritime spaces under the French sovereignty or jurisdiction through the world. Those spaces are defined by the Ordonnance n° 2016-1687 of 8 December 2016 relating to maritime spaces under sovereignty or jurisdiction of the French Republic. This ordonnance is the transcription in the French legislation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which was signed in Montego Bay (Jamaica) on 10 December 1982 end ratified by France on 11 April 1996. These elements of maritime limits and boundaries come from the limits computed by Shom on the basis of International Law, from the international agreements relating to maritime boundary and the technical conventions ratified between France and other States, from the decisions of international juridical bodies, from the recommendations of the Commission of the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNO) or from unilateral claims from France in the absence of agreement. The elements are divided into seven themes: 1- Straight baselines 2- Outer limits of the territorial sea (12 nautical miles) 3- Outer limits of the contiguous zone (24 nautical miles) 4- Outer limits of the exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles) 5- Maritime boundaries established by a bilateral agreement or decided by an international juridical body 6- Maritime boundaries unilaterally claimed by France in the absence of agreement 7- Outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles December 2022 version

The exclusive economic zone is adjacent to the territorial sea and extends to a maximum distance of 200 nautical miles calculated from the baselines. This is a space in which the coastal State do not practice its entire sovereignty but only the following rights: - sovereign rights over the water column, the bed and subsoil for the purposes of: - exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources, whether biological or not; - exploration and exploitation of the zone for economic purposes, such as the production of energy from water, currents and wind; - jurisdiction concerning the following fields: - construction and use of artificial islands, facilities and works; - marine scientific research; - protection and preservation of the marine environment. Apart from the rights and obligations of the coastal States cited above, the exclusive economic zone is a space open to the exercise by any other State of the freedoms set down in the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) (navigation, overflight, etc.), within the limits set by the Convention.