Archipelagic state


An archipelagic state is a designation used for island countries that consist of an archipelago. The designation is legally defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In various conferences, The Bahamas, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines are the five original sovereign states that obtained approval in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea signed in Montego Bay, Jamaica on 10 December 1982 and qualified as the archipelagic states.
Archipelagic states are composed of groups of islands forming a state as a single unit, with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internal waters. Under this concept, an archipelago shall be regarded as a single unit, so that the waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the state, and are subject to its exclusive sovereignty. The baselines must enclose the main islands of the archipelago, and the enclosed water to land ratio must be "between 1:1 and 9:1".
The approval of the United Nations for the five sovereign states as archipelagic states respect existing agreements with other countries and shall recognize traditional fishing rights and other legitimate activities of the immediately adjacent neighboring countries in certain areas falling within archipelagic waters. The terms and conditions for the exercise of such rights and activities, including the nature, the extent and the areas to which they apply, shall, at the request of any of the countries concerned, be regulated by bilateral agreements between them. Such rights shall not be transferred to or shared with third countries or their nationals.
As of 20 June 2015, a total of 22 countries have sought to claim archipelagic status.

List of archipelagic states

This is a list of the archipelagic states in the world. These 22 island countries have sought to claim archipelagic status by utilising the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provisions. Bolded are the five original official archipelagic states.
NameGeographic configurationGeologic locationPopulationArea Population
density
Geographic location
One archipelago consists of two main islandsContinental shelf86,295440194Caribbean Sea, Leeward Islands
'One archipelagoContinental shelf392,00013,87823.27Atlantic Ocean, Lucayan Archipelago
One archipelagoOceanic518,4674,033125.5Atlantic Ocean, West Africa
One archipelago consists of three main islandsOceanic784,7452,235275Indian Ocean, East Africa
One archipelago with the main island shared with another country Continental shelf10,652,00048,442208.2Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles
'One archipelago consists of two main islandsOceanic859,17818,27446.4Pacific Ocean, Melanesia
, Carriacou and Petite MartiniqueOne archipelago consists of two main islandsContinental shelf110,000344319.8Caribbean Sea, Windward Islands
'One archipelagoTwo continental shelves255,461,7001,904,569124.7Maritime Southeast Asia, Malay Archipelago
One archipelago consists of one main islandContinental shelf2,847,23210,991252Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles
ArchipelagoOceanic98,000811135Pacific Ocean, Micronesia
One archipelagoOceanic329,1982981,105Indian Ocean, South Asia
ArchipelagoOceanic62,000181342.5Pacific Ocean, Micronesia
Two archipelagos consist of two main islandsOceanic1,244,6632,040610Indian Ocean, East Africa
'One archipelago with the main island shared with another country Continental shelf6,732,000462,84014.5Pacific Ocean, Melanesia
One archipelagoContinental shelf101,398,120300,000295Pacific Ocean, Malay Archipelago
Archipelago consists of one main islandContinental shelf120,000389307Caribbean Sea, Windward Islands
One archipelago consists of two main islandsContinental shelf163,0001,001169.1Atlantic Ocean, Central Africa
Four archipelagosOceanic87,500455192Indian Ocean, East Africa
Five archipelagosOceanic523,00028,40018.1Pacific Ocean, Melanesia
One archipelago consists of two main islandsContinental shelf1,299,9535,131254.4Caribbean Sea, Windward Islands
One archipelagoOceanic12,37326475.88Pacific Ocean, Polynesia
One archipelagoOceanic243,30412,19019.7Pacific Ocean, Melanesia