Although widely used in the legal documents, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), this term lacks a precise definition.
[1] The interests of a coastal state can be in conflict with those of the maritime nations (the ones that greatly depend on the sea trade routes).
[4] The coastal states have jurisdiction over the sea areas: internal waters and the territorial sea with international straits (limited by the transit passage), archipelagic waters, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.
Their jurisdiction covers, depending on the area: navigation, fishing, mineral extraction from the seabed, customs, fiscal, research (including archeological) and immigration matters, the environmental protection.
Jurisdiction also extends to ships and overflying aircraft, including those on board of them, structures built in the sea and their population.