Territorial waters

Territorial waters, or a territorial sea is a belt of coastal waters that go at most 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from the edge of a coastal state. The territorial sea is land of the state. Ships are let to sail on it. Ownership also extends to the airspace over and seabed below.

Schematic map of maritime zones.

The term "territorial waters" is also sometimes used to mean any area of water a state has jurisdiction. This includes internal waters, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and potentially the continental shelf.