Legal concept of the continental shelf united nations convention on the maritime 1982

The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, defining the continental shelf, proceeds from two fundamental principles: the principle of natural continuation of land territory and the principle of exploitation, that is, the possibility of the technical development of its natural resources. The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides the basis for a legal definition of the concept of the continental shelf on the principles of natural extension and distance.