United states border question?

Question

soo this might sound stupid, but i've been wondering this for some random reason....

since no country owns the oceans, wouldn't that mean that when you step into the ocean anywhere, lets just say in florida... that you aren't in the united states anymore?

lol :)

Answer 1

There is a distance that you have to go into the water where its called "uncharted" waters.

Answer 2

No the U.S. ownes the coastlines, that extend out to see for some miles. but after that you are in international waters and are not bound by U.S. law.

Answer 3

yup thats why they call it national waters which means you cand do anything and not get into trouble until u step back onto the untited states lol

Answer 4

yea cuz your in international waters.

Answer 5

Actually it is divided into pieces of land, for example, if you are within a 10 mile radius from shore of any given area, you are counted as in the area, as for farther areas, they do have a map that is divded like the U.S. on ocean borders

Answer 6

Countries make claims on territorial waters. That means they'll usually say for example, any ocean that is 100km from our country is considered part of our waters. Beyond that is what is called International Waters.

Countries however have different opinions on where the lines are drawn. Many skirmishes and disagreements have occurred because of it.

Answer 7

actually no. we do own the ocean. not all of it. If ur within a certain amount of miles from say a U.S. shore ur still considered to be on U.S. territory. once you pass that certain amount of miles then ur considered to be in international waters and U.S. laws no longer apply to you.

Answer 8

There are what is called 'international waters', but they are far out at sea.   Countries do own most of the water right around around their own borders.

Answer 9

no because each country has a right to a certain distance off its shores... 25 miles is my ballpark guess

Answer 10

actually there is a certain mile off the coastline that is still technically the united states then it just drops off and is free ocean i guess

but im pretty sure you cant just step in the ocean and not be in the us

Answer 11

12 nautical miles of ocean is property of individual countries, and the rests is knowed as Inter National waters. and know adays they are building artificial Islands, with the biggest machinery in the world call Dredges :. i guess that's why we are getting all that Oil BABY!!!!

Answer 12

actually, there's a law in a country about coastal territories....

Here in the Philippines, there's a law that when you pass a specific place somewhere in the South China Sea, your not already in Philippines

Answer 13

Countries own space if I am not mistaken 200 nautical miles into the ocean around their territories.

So if you are 200 nautical miles apart from Florida in some boat or swimming or whatever you are "in" Florida if we are speaking in legal terms.

Answer 14

hmmm...

Answer 15

wow i never thought of that before....

you have an special mind my friend :D

grr... now i have competition!

Answer 16

yeah but we own the waters untill you get 12 miles out (or somwhere around that)

Answer 17

Actually, there's an area of the ocean where a certain country owns that place. So that means that you would have to step out a certain distance to not be in the United States anymore.

But that would be silly, considering the dangers of going out to ocean 200 miles from shore.

Answer 18

Every country claims fifteen mile of the ocean as territorial water.

Answer 19

Good question.. but we are USA and we don't give a **** if we want you water or not your ours :)

Answer 20

In the mid 1970's the coastal limit for th U.S. was changed from 15 miles to 200 miles in order to make it harder for spy trawlers to eavesdrop on communications. The actual limits are different from country to country and are usually voted and posted in the U.N.

:)

Answer 21

You are partially correct. I'm not sure of the bounds, but US waters extend some amount past the shore. However, go far enough out and you enter "international waters", which belong to no country.