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1. The history of the Convention’s definition of the 
term “continental shelf” 
In the International Law Commission’s (ILC) first draft of the 
definition (1951) the “continental shelf was defined as covering: 
“the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas contiguous to 
the coast, but outside the area of territorial waters, where the 
depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the 
natural resources of the seabed and subsoil.” 
At its 1953 session, however, ILC changed the definition and defined 
the shelf solely in terms of water depth, using 200 meters as the outer 
limit. 
At its final session in 1956, the ILC again changed the definition 
of “continental shelf.” This time the shelf was defined in substance 
as it appears in Article 1 of the Convention, embodying the alternate 
criteria of water depth (200 meters) and exploitability. The ILC 
explained its final definition as having been prompted by action taken 
by the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Conservation of 
Natural Resources: Continental Shelf and Oceanic Waters, held at 
Ciudad Trujillo (Dominican Republic) in March 1956. That con- 
ference had concluded that “the right of the coastal State should be 
extended beyond the limit of 200 metres, ‘to where the depth of the 
superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources 
of the seabed and subsoil’. (ILC Report, p. 41.) 
In its final report on the definition, ILC makes clear that its definition 
departs from the strict geological concept of the shelf, stating (ILC 
Report, pp. 41-42): 
“« , . the Commission therefore in no way holds that the existence 
of a continental shelf, in the geographical sense as generally under- 
stood, is essential for the exercise of the rights of the coastal State 
as defined in these articles.” 
And (id.): 
“Again, exploitation of a submarine area at a depth exceeding 
200 metres is not contrary to the present rules, merely because 
the area is not a continental shelf in the geological sense.” 
Further light is shed on the definition of the shelf, particularly the 
phrase “the submarine area adjacent to the coast,” by ILC’s com- 
mentary on its draft Article 68, which provides that the coastal State 
exercises over the shelf “sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring 
and exploiting its natural resources.” The ILC points out that once 
