Which framework governs maritime boundaries and resources?

• A. The Vienna Convention
• B. The Kyoto Protocol
• C. UNCLOS
• D. The Geneva Conventions

Answer: (C)

UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, provides the legal framework for how states draw maritime boundaries and access marine resources. It defines the regimes of territorial seas (up to 12 nautical miles), exclusive economic zones (up to 200 nautical miles with rights to resource exploration and exploitation), and the continental shelf, along with rules for delimiting boundaries when claims meet. It also covers freedoms of navigation, management of living and non-living resources, and dispute settlement, tying together how territories at sea are governed. The other options address treaties in general, climate-change rules, or humanitarian law in war, not the specific framework for the law of the sea and maritime resources.