443 



TABLE M— COUNTRIES WITH EXTENSIVE OCEAN AREA AT DEPTHS LESS THAN 1,000 FATHOMS 



Country 



Approximate 



coastline 



(nautical miles) 1 



Approximate area (square nautical miles) 

 at less than— 



100 fathoms 



100 to 500 

 fathoms 



500 to 1.000 

 fathoms 



7,000 



Argentina 2,100 250,000 25,000 15,000 



Australia (including New Guinea) 17,500 625,000 170,000 250,000 



(Indian Ocean islands) 2,000 20,000 65,000 



Bahamas(U.K.) ____ 1,400 37,000 5,000 14,000 



Brazil 3,700 200,000 33,000 35,000 



Burma 1,230 63,000 10,000 10,000 



Canada 11,000 >700,000 >200,000 >100,000 



China 3,500 200,000 20,000 10,000 



Faeroe Island (Denmark) 155 6,000 30,000 ■ 15,000 



France 1,375 41,000 5,000 4,500 



(Indian Ocean islands) 18,000 43,000 63,000 



(Pacific Ocean islands) 29,000 40,000 75,000 



Greenland (Denmark) 5,000 60,000 200,000 50,000 



Iceland... 1,080 22,000 40,000 >75,000 



India 2,750 80,000 20,000 30,000 



Indonesia 20,000 380,000 



Ireland 660 36,000 15,000 



Malaysia 1,850 125,000 



Mexico 5,000 100,000 25,000 25,000 



New Zealand 2,770 60,000 225,000 175,000 



Norway. 1,650 30,000 80,000 35,000 



Portugal dependencies.... _ 60,000 45,000 95,000 



South Africa.... 1,430 46,000 44,000 33,000 



(South West Africa) 780 20,000 35,000 10,000 



South Vietnam. 865 84,000 17,000 25,000 



Spain 1,500 20,000 23,000 23,000 



(Atlantic dependencies) 24,000 11,000 15,000 



Thailand.... 1,300 75,000 15,000 



U.S.S.R .... 23,000 >1, 000, 000 >400, 000 >300, 000 



United Kingdom 2,800 40,000 25,000 50,000 



(Falkland Island and dependencies) 30,000 65,000 40,000 



(Indian Ocean islands) 48,000 20,000 35,000 



(Pacific Ocean islands) 17,000 17,000 35,000 



United States ._ _ 11.650 650,000 >150,000 >150,000 



Venezuela 1,000 27,000 10,000 20,000 



i Coastlines from U.S. Department of State Geographic Bulletin No. 3, April 1965. 

 Source: Adapted from: Ibid., page 9. 



f 



Continental Shelf of the Soviet Union 



The Soviet Union has a coastline approximately 23,000 miles long, 

 with a continental shelf exceeding 1 million square miles up to the 

 100-fathom depth. The coastline stretches along the Arctic Ocean, 

 from Norway to Alaska, and southward along the Pacific Ocean from 

 the Bering Sea to the Sea of Japan. 



The shelf bordering the Arctic is not of uniform extent, being sev- 

 eral miles wider off the Eurasian coast than off that of North America. 

 North of Norway and adjacent to Russia, the Barents Sea forms one 

 of the widest shelves in the world and also one of the deepest. Off Nor- 

 way, the 100-fathom line is reached almost immediately offshore while 

 to the east, toward Russian waters, it is as much as 150 miles from 

 land. 



The Kara Sea, 250,000 square miles in area, is entirely on the con- 

 tinental shelf. It is mostly of depths less than 100 fathoms, with 

 isolated troughs of about 200 fathoms. 



To the east, off Siberia, the shelf edge is generally at about 40 

 fathoms, and reaches a maximum width of about 400 miles. A combina- 

 tion of the Chukchi shelf and the Bering shelf is often considered as the 

 world's widest shelf, extending over 1000 miles north and south. The 

 shelf narrows to less than 50 miles in width north of Alaska, with the 



