The extent of a costal State’s territorial water is determined from specified points at the maritime zones. The baseline is the line from which the outer limits of the territorial sea are measured. According to territorial water maps, the water on the landward side of the baseline is known as internal water. The baseline technically forms the boundary between the internal waters and the territorial sea. Baselines are also taken into account in order to formulate maritime zones. International water laws including the Law of the Sea Convention have accounted the rules in relation to baselines as the regulating statute of maritime jurisdiction. Baselines are recently used to measure not only the outer limit of the territorial sea, but also the outer limits of the contiguous zone, the Exclusive Economic Zones as well as the Exclusive Fishing Zones.
