UN General Assembly
1958

102. Therein lies the great importance of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea that was held earlier this year at Geneva by decision of the eleventh session of the General Assembly [resolution 1105 (XI)], the purpose of that Conference having been to examine new juridical rules which might eventually be incorporated in the international law of the sea, taking into account the geo-biological, economic, technical and human aspects of the problem. It should be pointed out that In this as in other matters relating to international law, the geographical and political patterns created for the Mediterranean civilization cannot be applied to the vast and varied American scene. The classical concept of mare nostrum in the civilization of Europe involves ideas which are out-dated and inapplicable to our circumstances, such as the three-mile limit for the old territorial sea. In the modern world, however, which is the world of Magellan and not the world of Ptolemy, with an Atlantic and a Pacific Ocean and distances as great as those separating Australia and Peru, that is to say thousands of miles, the breadth we claim is necessary to protect the biological and economic interests of Peru's coastal populations. Whatever the decision adopted on this point, the peculiar situation of Peru and the immemorial human rights of its coastal population must be taken into account.