These boundaries represent the contiguous zone for U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, as well as the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island. The contiguous zone is a band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles from the coastal baseline (usually the mean low-water mark), within which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea". However, unlike the Territorial Sea there is no standard rule for resolving such conflicts, and the states in question must negotiate their own compromise.

These boundaries represent the territorial sea for U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, as well as the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island. Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles (12 nmi) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state. The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, although foreign ships are allowed innocent passage through it; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below.

Shorelines of all U.S. Pacific and affiliated territories. Compiled from individual shoreline layers.

These data represent the geographic boundaries of marine and terrestrial protected areas in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Marine features are shown for U.S. state and federal waters as well as those located within 20 miles of coastal submerged lands including hydrologically related rivers and bays.

Protected Areas - Marshall Islands

Village Boundaries - Marshall Islands

Marine Protected Areas (2006) - Guam, Mariana Islands

Boundaries of all known protected areas within Micronesia as compiled by the Micronesia Challenge, a commitment launched in 2006 by Micronesian governments to strike a critical balance between the need to use their natural resources today and the need to sustain those resources for future generations. Five Micronesian governments--the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)--have committed to "effectively conserve at least 30 percent of the near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020." This region-wide initiative evolved from local conservation projects across Micronesia and is now a large-scale partnership between governments, nonprofit and community leaders, and multinational agencies and donors. Partners include NOAA, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Conservation International, and others. For further information, please see: http://www.micronesiachallenge.org

Proposed marine reserve area at Kaupulehu in the northern part of the Kona district on the west coast of Hawaii Island. The community proposal includes no-take for 10 years to allow for the reef to rest and replenish.

This dataset represents Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the world. Up to now, there was no global public domain cover available. Therefore, the Flanders Marine Institute decided to develop its own database. The database includes two global GIS-layers: one contains polylines that represent the maritime boundaries of the world countries, the other one is a polygon layer representing the Exclusive Economic Zone of countries. The database also contains digital information about treaties. Please note that the EEZ shapefile also includes the internal waters of each country http://www.marineregions.org/eezmethodology.php