In the absence of a maritime boundary agreement with a neighbouring State, the French Republic can unilateraly claim a delimitation. This boundary has indeed a provisional aspect pending the ratification of a boundary agreement. The theme "Maritime limits unilaterally claimed" gathers those limits unilaterally claimed by France. Some of those elkements are published by decree.

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.

In compliance with Article 33 of UNCLOS, the outer limit of the contiguous zone is located at 24 nautical miles from the baselines. The objects of the theme "Outer limit of the contiguous zone" result from Shom computations and are compliant with Article 10 of the French Order No 2016-1687 of 8 December 2016.

In the Law of the Sea, a straight baseline is composed by a loxodrome connecting two points of the low-water line or low-tide elevations if there is a lighthouse or similar permanent infrastructure on them. The conditions to draw such lines are defined in Article 7 of UNCLOS. The straight baselines are part of the baselines of a coastal State below which the internal waters are defined. Those straight baselines, in addition with the normal baseline, compose the inner limit of the territorial sea and are the basis of the computations of the outer limits of other maritime spaces defined by UNCLOS. They are also composed of the closure line for bays and rivers in compliance with Aricles 9 and 10 of UNCLOS. The objects of the theme "Straight baselines" result from Shom computations and are published by decree of the French Republic.

In compliance with Article 3 of UNCLOS, the outer limit of the territorial sea is located at 12 nautical miles from the baselines. It corresponds to the inner limit of the contiguous and exclusive economic zones. The objects of the theme "Outer limit of the territorial sea" result from Shom computations and are published by decree of the French Republic. Some of those limits are note published by decree yet.

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.

The territorial sea extends from the baselines to a maximum distance of 12 nautical miles, calculated from the baselines. The State has full sovereignty over the bed and subsoil, surface and underlying water column and air space. Sovereignty shall not, however, hinder the right of innocent passage of which the ships of all States benefit in the territorial sea.

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.

The United Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) introduced a new definition of the continental shelf which can extend “to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.” Coastal States can thus have a continental shelf of 200 nautical miles even in the absence of a geomorphological continental shelf, and a continental shelf extending beyond that limit where the presence of certain geomorphological and sedimentary criteria have been recognized by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The rights coastal State can exercise over the continental shelf are specified in Part VI of the UNCLOS. These rights are sovereign and exclusive over the seabed and subsoil, for exploration and exploitation of natural mineral, fossil and biological resources. The French authorities also hold competence recognized by the UNCLOS for: - construction, operation and use of artificial islands and installations; - marine scientific research; - issuing consent for the course of any pipeline; - issuing consent for the course of cables installed or used for exploitation of the continental shelf or of its resources.

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.