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Timor-Leste tried for many years to negotiate permanent maritime boundaries with Australia. However Australia
withdrew from the binding dispute resolution procedures relating to maritime boundaries, and declined invitations
to negotiate.
In April 2016, Timor-Leste initiated the world’s first compulsory conciliation under the United Nations Convention of
the law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Through this process, Australia and Timor-Leste reached agreement on a permanent
maritime boundary and the historic Maritime Boundary Treaty was signed, establishing for the first time, permanent
maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea.
Timor-Leste has now turned its attention to the delimitation of maritime boundaries with Indonesia, and both
countries have agreed to work towards a fair and equitable boundary based on international law.
Map 1: Timor-Leste’s regional geography
Map 2: The Timor Gap
Map 3: The resources and geomorphology of the Timor Sea
Map 4: Australia’s maritime zones with other neighbours
Map 5: Resources in the Timor Sea
Map 6: Maritime Boundary Agreement between Timor-Leste and Australia
Map 7: Exclusive economic zone boundary
Map 8: Continental shelf (seabed) boundary
Map 9: Greater Sunrise and Special Regime Area
Map 1: Timor-Leste’s maritime boundaries under international law
Map 2: Timor-Leste’s regional geography
Map 3, 4, 5: Equidistance relevant circumstances approach
Map 6: Construction of a median line between Timor-Leste and Australia using the three-stage approach
Map 7: Guinea v Guinea-Bissau maritime boundary delimitation
Map 8: Nicaragua v Honduras maritime boundary delimitation
Map 9: Exclusive economic zone overlap between Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia
Map 10: Indonesia’s archipelago
Map 11: Australia and Indonesia maritime boundary agreements
Map 12: Australia’s maritime zones
Map 13: The Joint Petroleum Development Area
Map 14: Provisional equidistance line between Timor-Leste and Indonesia in the north
Map 15: Median line between Australia and Timor-Leste
Map 16: Timor-Leste and the Indonesian island to the east
Map 17: The Indonesian islands to the east of Timor-Leste relative to Indonesia’s archipelago
Map 18: Timor-Leste and the surrounding Indonesian islands
Map 19: Qatar v Bahrain maritime boundary delimitation
Map 20: Bangladesh v Myanmar maritime boundary delimitation
Map 21: Black Sea Case (Romania v Ukraine) maritime boundary delimitation
Map 22: Oil and gas fields in and near the Timor Sea
This website is hosted by the Maritime Boundary Office of the Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries to allow readers to learn more about Timor-Leste’s pursuit of permanent maritime boundaries. The Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries and the Maritime Boundary Office do not accept any legal liability for any reliance placed on any information contained in this website (including external links). The information provided is a summary only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. The information and views expressed in this website and in any linked information do not constitute diplomatic representations and do not limit or otherwise affect the rights of the Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries, the Maritime Boundary Office or the Government of Timor-Leste. The views expressed in any linked information do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries, the Maritime Boundary Office or the Government of Timor-Leste.
GFM is the acronym for “Gabinete das Fronteiras Marítimas”, which is the Portuguese translation of Maritime Boundary Office.