The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Chile and Peru should split sovereignty over an area of sea the size of Sri Lanka off their coast, settling a dispute that stems from a war 130 years ago.

 

The judges recognized the existing maritime border that runs directly west from the land border for 80 nautical miles, said the court's president Peter Tomka in a televised reading of the decision. After that, the new border runs south-west to a point that is 200 miles equidistant from the coast of the two countries.

 

Peru had claimed sovereignty over 66,680 square kilometers (25,745 square miles) of rich fishing waters off the two neighbors' Pacific coast. Chile has exercised sovereignty over 57 percent of the area closest to its coastline and considered the remainder as high seas. Under today's ruling, Chile's loses control over part of that maritime territory. 

 

Message of the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala Tasso (Spanish)

The United Nations' highest court drew a new maritime boundary between Peru and Chile on Monday, awarding Peru parts of the Pacific Ocean but keeping rich coastal fishing grounds in Chilean hands. 

The International Court of Justice in The Hague has partially upheld Peru's demands in border conflict case against Chile.

At a reading held at 3:00 PM local time in The Hague, it was announced that the International Court of Justice has conceded new maritime territory to Peru while partially upholding Chilean territory claims. 

The Peruvian agent before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Allan Wagner, today expressed his gratitude to the court's judges for putting an end to a long-standing maritime dispute between Peru and Chile.  

Peruvian Foreign Minister Eda Rivas highlighted the strong sense of unity in her country as she arrived at the Government Palace early on Monday to hear an international ruling on the maritime dispute between Peru and Chile.  

Download the compete PDF file that informs the ICJ's ruling regarding the maritime delimitation controversy between Peru and Chile that draws a new maritime frontier.  Click on the image.