On April 21, 2009, the Argentine Republic submitted the outer limit of the continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a technical body created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), based in New York.

In August 2012, during the 30th Period of Sessions of the CLCS, the Subcommission for the Argentine Republic was created, thus starting the process of consideration of the outer limit of the continental shelf, submitted in 2009.

Argentina conducted in-depth and thorough scientific and technical tasks which allowed it to determine the outer limit of its continental shelf. This work provides certainty about the geographical extent of our sovereign rights over the resources in the seabed and subsoil along more than 1,782,000 km2 of Argentine continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, which are added to the approximately 4,799,000 km2 located between the baselines and the 200 nautical miles, as can be seen on the map (Illustrative Diagrams).

The outer limit of the continental shelf of the entire Argentine territory —continent, the South Atlantic islands and the Argentine Antarctic Sector— is made up of 6,336 points of WGS84 geographic coordinates.

The limit submitted complies with the provisions of UNCLOS and the Scientific and Technical Guidelines of the Commission on the CLCS. When determining this limit, all available resources were used to identify the most beneficial limit for our country according to the applicable formulae and constraints.

This is an example of a State policy that Argentina has implemented throughout almost 20 years with seriousness, professionalism and focus on the objective. This will strengthen its presence in the world, while reiterating the Argentine inalienable rights over a politically, economically and strategically important area such as the South Atlantic.

The Subcommission that considered the outer limit of the Argentine continental shelf was created in August, 2012. During the period dedicated to the analysis of the Argentine submission, nine rounds of working sessions were held, namely in August 2012, February/March 2013, July/August 2013, October/November 2013, January/February 2014, August 2014, November 2014, February 2015, and August 2015. In the session that took place in August 2015, the Subcommission completed the analysis of the Argentine submission, starting the stage of consideration by the CLCS Plenary. On August 27, in keeping with the Rules of Procedure of the CLCS, Argentina made its oral presentation to the Plenary.

Finally, on March 11, 2016, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) adopted by consensus (with no negative votes) the Recommendations on the Argentine submission of the outer limit of its continental shelf.

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