Archipelagic state

What is an Archipelagic State?

An archipelagic state is a country made up of one or more islands grouped together. These special countries follow rules set by a big agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea from 1982.

Some well-known archipelagic states are The Bahamas, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. These countries can treat the waters between their islands as their own special area, called archipelagic waters.

Fun Facts

There are 22 countries that have asked to be recognized as archipelagic states. Some of these countries have many islands, while others have just a few. For example, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state, with thousands of islands!

Archipelagic states can pick special sea lanes and air routes for travel between countries. If they don’t pick these routes, the normal routes will be used. Ships cannot go more than 25 miles away from these special lanes.

Archipelagic Waters

Archipelagic states are countries made up of many islands. The waters around these islands are called archipelagic waters. These waters belong to the country, but ships from other countries can pass through certain routes.

Here is a list of some famous archipelagic states:

• The Bahamas
• Fiji
• Indonesia
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines