Exclusive economic zone of the United States

The United States has the world's second largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) after France. An exclusive economic zone is a special area of the ocean where a country has special rights over the resources and activities.

The total size of the United States' EEZ is 11,351,000 km² (4,383,000 sq mi)². This huge area stretches across three oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, including Puerto Rico in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the most notable parts of this EEZ are around Alaska, Hawaii, the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast of the United States. These areas are important for fishing, oil and gas exploration, and other economic activities. The large EEZ helps the United States manage and protect its natural resources in the ocean.

Geography

The United States' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) touches many countries and territories. To the northwest, it borders Russia. To the north, it borders Canada. To the south, it borders Cuba, the Bahamas, and Mexico. Further to the southeast, it borders the Dominican Republic, the British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla. In the southwest, it borders Samoa and Niue. The EEZ also includes places like Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The EEZ (including territorial sea) areas of the territories of the U.S. (in decreasing size)

Territory	EEZ area (km2)	EEZ area (sq mi)
Alaska	3,770,021	1,455,613
Hawaii – Northwestern Islands	1,579,538	609,863
U.S. East Coast	915,763	353,578
Hawaii – Southeastern Islands	895,346	345,695
U.S. West Coast	825,549	318,746
Northern Mariana Islands	749,268	289,294
U.S. Gulf Coast	707,832	273,295
Johnston Atoll	442,635	170,902
Howland and Baker Islands	434,921	167,924
Wake Island	407,241	157,237
American Samoa	404,391	156,136
Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef	352,300	136,000
Jarvis Island	316,665	122,265
Guam	221,504	85,523
Puerto Rico	177,685	68,605
U.S. Virgin Islands	33,744	13,029
Navassa Island	N/A	N/A
Total	11,351,000	4,383,000

Disputes

The United States has some parts of its special ocean area that other countries want too. One of these is with Canada over a wedge-shaped spot in the Beaufort Sea. This spot might have a lot of oil reserves.

Another disagreement is with the Dominican Republic. Since 2007, the Dominican Republic has said part of the special ocean area near Puerto Rico belongs to them by saying they are an archipelagic state. The United States does not agree and thinks the area should be split by an equidistance line.