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Articles

Volume 7, Number 1 (2006)

Geographic Names and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Submitted
August 13, 2013
Published
2006-01-01

Abstract

The topic of geographic names is never mentioned in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). However, any discussion of delimitation of ocean space and sovereignty carries with it implications of naming rights and practices. Beyond UNCLOS, the United Nations (UN) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) are all actively involved in toponymy. This paper will seek to discuss a variety of ways in which geographic names issues arise as a result of UNCLOS and to highlight the roles of the IHO, IOC and UN in geographic names standardisation.