---identifier: "/us/cfr/t33/s2.20"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "33 CFR § 2.20 - Territorial sea baseline."title_number: 33title_name: "Navigation and Navigable Waters"section_number: "2.20"section_name: "Territorial sea baseline."chapter_name: "COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY"subchapter_number: "A"subchapter_name: "GENERAL"part_number: "2"part_name: "JURISDICTION"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-03-24"last_updated: "2026-03-24"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "14 U.S.C. 503; 33 U.S.C. 70031; Public Law 89-670, 80 Stat. 931, 49 U.S.C. 108; Public Law 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, 2249, 6 U.S.C. 101 note and 468; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1."regulatory_source: "USCG-2001-9044, 68 FR 42598, July 18, 2003, unless otherwise noted."cfr_part: "2"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t33/s2.20
Currency
2026-03-24
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-03-24
Chapter
Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security
Authority
14 U.S.C. 503; 33 U.S.C. 70031; Public Law 89-670, 80 Stat. 931, 49 U.S.C. 108; Public Law 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, 2249, 6 U.S.C. 101 note and 468; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170... 14 U.S.C. 503; 33 U.S.C. 70031; Public Law 89-670, 80 Stat. 931, 49 U.S.C. 108; Public Law 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, 2249, 6 U.S.C. 101 note and 468; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
# 2.20 Territorial sea baseline.*Territorial sea baseline* means the line defining the shoreward extent of the territorial sea of the United States drawn according to the principles, as recognized by the United States, of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 15 U.S.T. 1606, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 21 I.L.M. 1261. Normally, the territorial sea baseline is the mean low water line along the coast of the United States.Charts depicting the territorial sea baseline are available for examination in accordance with § 1.10-5 of this chapter.