Return to LIS MenuLIS No. 6 - Yugoslavia 1970IntroductionYugoslav Straight BaselinesArticle 3Article 11Article 18Article 20Article 21SummaryNavigational MapInternational Boundary Study Series A Limits in the Seas No. 6 – February 16, 1970 Yugoslavia Straight Baselines: Yugoslavia (Country Codes: YO) The Geographer Office of the Geographer Bureau of Intelligence and ResearchThe Geographer Office of Strategic and Functional Research Bureau of Intelligence and Research International Boundary Study Series A Limits in the Seas Straight Baselines YUGOSLAVIA No. 6 February 6, 1970 This paper is one of a series issued by The Geographer, Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State. The aim is to set forth the basis for national arrangements for the measurement of the territorial sea or the division of the continental shelf of maritime nations. This research document is intended for background use only. This document does not represent an official acceptance by the United States Government of the line or lines represented on the charts or, necessarily, of the specific principles involved, if any, in the original drafting of the lines. Additional copies of the studies may be requested by mail from The Geographer, Department of State, Washington, D. C. 20520 or by phone (Telephone 63-22021).2 YUGOSLAV STRAIGHT BASELINES The Government of Yugoslavia published in the Official Gazette of the republic on May 12, 1965 "The Law on the Coastal Sea, the Outer Sea Belt and the Epicontinental Belt of Yugoslavia." The law was adopted by the Federal Assembly on April 23, 1965, proclaimed by the President the next day and came into effect 8 days after publication. The law embodies 36 articles covering virtually every aspect of internal waters, the territorial sea and straight baselines of Yugoslavia. The articles pertinent to this review are 3, 11, 12, 18, 20, and 21. The texts of these articles are as follows: Article 3 Inner sea waters include the following: 1) ports and bays on the coast of the mainland and the islands; 2) mouths of rivers; 3) parts of the sea between the mainland coast and the basic line of the territorial sea referred to in Items 2 and 3, Paragraph 2, Article 11 of this Law. A bay, referred to in Item 1, Paragraph 1 of this Article, is a distinctly limited inlet recessed into the land and of a sea area equal to or larger than the area of the semi-circle with a diameter equal to the length of the straight line closing the entrance into the inlet. The sea area of the inlet is measured from the low tide line along the coast line of the inlet and the straight line closing the entrance to the inlet. Article 11 The territorial sea is the sea belt of a width of 10 nautical miles, measured from the basic line towards the open sea. The basic line is: 1) The low tide line along the coast line of the mainland and the islands; 2) straight lines closing the entrances to bays; 3) straight lines connecting the following points on the coast of the mainland and on the coast of the islands; a) Zarubaca Point - southeastern Point of the Mrkan Island - southern Point of Sveti Andrija Island - Gruj Point (on the Mljet Island);-3- b) Korizmeni Point (Mljet Island) - Glavat Islet - Struga Point (Lastovo Island) - Veljeg Mora Point (Lastovo Island) - southwestern Point of Kopiste Island - Velo Dance Point (Korcula Island) - Proizd Point - southwestern Point of Vodnjak Island - Rat Point (Drvenik Mali Island) - Mulo Reef - Blitvenica Reef - Purara Island - Balun Island - Mrtovac Island - Garmenjak Veli Island - position 43° 53' 12" N and 15° 10' 0" E on the Dugi Otok Island; c) Veli Rat Point (Dugi Otok Island) - Masarine Reef - Margarina Point (Susak Island) - Albanez Shoal - Grunj Island - Sveti Ivan na Pucini Reef - Mramori Shoal - Alteiz Island - Point Kastanija. The straight lines referred to in Item 3, Paragraph 2, of this Article must be laid down on the seachart "Jadransko more" (Adriatic Sea), scale 1:1,000,000, published by the Hydrographic Institute of the Yugoslav Navy. A reproduction of this chart is a component part of this Law. In determining the basic line of the territorial sea, the outermost permanent port structures which are a component part of a port system shall also be considered part of the coast. The outer boundary of the territorial sea is the line whose each point is 10 nautical miles away from the nearest basic line. Ships of any state are entitled to a harmless passage through the territorial sea under the conditions prescribed by this Law and other Federal regulations. A harmless passage of a ship is the sailing through the territorial sea without entering the inner sea waters, or with the intention to enter the inner sea waters or to leave these waters for the open sea, provided that the public law and order, peace, and security of Yugoslavia are not affected. The harmless passage referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article also includes the stopping and anchorage of a ship in the territorial sea if this is required for the purpose of normal sailing or due to an act of God or distress at sea. Article 18 The outer sea belt is an area of a width of 2 nautical miles, measured from the outer boundary of the territorial sea towards the open sea. Article 20 The epicontinental belt comprises the sea bottom and the underground of the submarine space outside the outer boundary of the territorial sea to a depth of 200-4- meters, and also beyond that boundary to the line where the depth of the water over the sea bottom permits exploitation of the natural wealth of the sea bottom and its underground. Article 21 Yugoslavia exercises her sovereign rights over the epicontinental belt concerning the exploration and exploitation of the natural wealth of that belt. The natural wealth, referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article, denotes ores and other inanimate wealth of the sea bottom and its underground and living organisms which, in the stage in which they are caught, are immovable on the sea bottom or underneath the sea bottom, or can move only when in continental, physical contact with the sea bottom or its underground. The straight baselines, as decreed, constitute 26 individual segments which are combined into three lines broken twice by island coasts. The straight baselines total approximately 244.7 nautical miles; the first segment extends for 22.9 miles from the coast north