Description: The Global Maritime Boundaries Database (GMBD) is a data reference tool providing the user with the means of viewing and analyzing international maritime claims, limits and boundaries. These data are currently available from a wide variety of resources, yet no government agency, commercial firm, or academic institution has put forth even the agreed boundaries as a publicly available geo–referenced electronic database. This GMBD has provided a GIS database of not only agreed boundaries but also claimed limits, median lines and other features with detailed attributes providing imperative background information for every coastal nation in the world since the last century.The GMBD stores the claims, boundaries and zones feature data for the entire world as both attributed polygons and lines. The line features represent the boundaries of the jurisdictions and represent unilateral claims, multilateral agreements, hypothetical median lines, disputed claims, etc.gmbdline.shp- is the master LINE feature class of the GMBD.extendedcontinentalshelf.shp- this is separate line file containing the, mostly recent, extended continental shelf claims of the coastal nations. The polygon version of this data is still detail limited data in production (about half the countries have yet to make their claims).The polygon features represent areas of jurisdiction such as territorial seas, contiguous zones, fisheries zones, military zones, exclusive economic zones, joint development zones, disputed claims and more.gmbdpoly.shp- is the master POLYGON feature class of the GMBD.The following are derivatives of gmbdpoly.shp to simplify drawing and representing overlapping claims with transparency:land.shp - extracted land featuresinternalwaters.shp - extracted internal waters (landward of the baseline) features. Only a couple of the most egregious are distributed in the GMBDterritorialsea.shp - extracted territorial sea featurescontiguouszones.shp- extracted contiguous zone featureseconomiczones.shp- extracted economic zone featuresfishingzones.shp- extracted fishing zone features. These are generally 200nm fishing zones that countries that have not claimed an EEZ have declared instead, Many are being supplanted with EEZs as time goes on.developmentzones.shp- extracted joint development zones, These are agreed upon by adjoining states and are usually fishing or oil development zones.militaryzones.shp- extracted military zones (not a UN definition but the littoral nation's definition) and should be treated with more caution than territorial seas.specialzones.shp- extracted unilateral or joint claims or agreements areas that do not fall under the standard zones by definition of the littoral countries. These are sometimes zones of the ocean that have been exchanged with a neighboring country as part of an agreement.highseas.shp- extracted high seas (entirely outside EEZ claims, but not necessarily the Extended Continental Shelf (EC), which deals only with beneath the sea bed.disputedclaim.shp- extracted areas that represent claims that are not in line with international guidance, These are usually territorial sea claims greater than 12nm but may be claims deemed contentious for other reasons. May be used with disputed ownership as well.disputedownership.shp- extracted areas that represent, generally, areas of overlapping claim by two or more countries. May be used with disputed claim as well.hypotheticalclaim.shp- extracted areas representing claims that have not yet been made but that are likely forthcoming. For example, historically EEZs were not claimed in the Mediterranean Sea. However, the sea is now being claimed and divided up.hypotheticalownership.shp- extracted areas that a country could claim but, for some reason, has not yet claimed.claimedwatersbyccsv.shp- by request, this is a single polygon representing each countries entire maritime claimed area.The Global Maritime Boundaries Database (GMBD) is a data reference tool providing the user with the means of viewing and analyzing international maritime claims, limits and boundaries. These data are currently available from a wide variety of resources, yet no government agency, commercial firm, or academic institution has put forth even the agreed boundaries as a publicly available geo–referenced electronic database. This GMBD is the first of its kind, containing a GIS database of not only agreed boundaries but also claimed limits, median lines and other features with detailed attributes providing imperative background information for every coastal nation in the world. Please review GMBD.pdf, InstallationInstructions.pdf and ReleaseNotes.pdf in the installation folder for additional background information, data discussion and a glossary of attributes and their content.
Copyright Text: Copyright 1998–Present by Global GIS Data Services, LLC. Mr. Lorin Pruett, President All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America