A state's Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ expands to a distance of 200 nautical miles or 370 kilometres out from its coast. There is an exception to this general rule when Exclusive Economic Zones would converge in instances where state coastal baselines are less than 400 nautical miles away from each other. In case of such overlap, it is up to the states to define the authentic boundary.
An Exclusive Economic Zone originates at the coastal baseline and expands 200 nautical miles into the sea, at a 90 degree angle to the baseline. As a consequence, the EEZ overlaps the contiguous zone and territorial waters.
States also have civil rights to the seabed of the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles from the coast. However, conflicts over the actual magnitude of Exclusive Economic Zones are a source of difference of opinion and boundary disputes between states over marine waters. There are instances of legal disputes and territorial disputes over the extension of the Exclusive Economic Zones especially in cases where overlapping is encountered.
