Definition
Clipperton Island (in French: Île de la Passion) is an uninhabited low coral lagoon located in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico and the tip of Baja California. The island has played a significant geopolitical role as it has been subject to a sovereignty dispute between Mexico and France which was resolved in 1931 through arbitration (Delgado 2019).
Inter Caetera was a bull issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 with the goal to impose European Christian principles of legal order on the Ocean and the newly (re-)discovered lands and islands West of the Atlantic. The text became the chief justification for the conquest of the new world by the Portuguese and Spaniards (MacMillan 2004).
The Permanent Court of International Justice(PCIJ) was established by the League of Nations in 1920 and dissolved in 1946. Its purpose was to enhance the peaceful settlement of...
References
Bjorge E (2020) Island of Palmas (Netherlands v United States of America) (1928). In: Bjorge E, Miles C (eds) Landmark cases in public international law. Hart, Oxford, pp 111–132
Brown SJ (2008) The Spanish origin of international law – Francisco de Vitoria and his law of nations. Originally published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1934, reprinted by The Lawbook Exchange, Union, New Jersey, 2000, fourth printing, 2008
Cavell J (2008) Historical evidence and the eastern Greenland case. Arct Inst North Am 61(4):433–441
Charpy L, Rodier M, Couté A, Perrette-Gallet C, Bley-Loëz C (2010) Clipperton, a possible future for atoll lagoons. Coral Reefs 29(3):771–783
Dickinson ED (1933) The Clipperton Island case. Am J Int Law 27:130–133. https://doi.org/10.2307/2189797. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Fife RE (2020) Legal status of eastern Greenland (Denmark v Norway) (1933). In: Bjorge E, Miles C (eds) Landmark cases in public international law. Hart, Oxford, pp 133–157
France (1958) The French Constitution, adopted by the referendum of September 28, 1958 and promulgated on October 4, 1958. French text and English translation. French Embassy, Press and Information Division, New York
Hannesson R (2008) The exclusive economic zone and economic development in the Pacific island countries. Mar Policy., Elsevier 32(6):886–897
Harris DJ (1998) Cases and materials on international law. Sweet & Maxwell, London
Hayton RD (1956) The “American” Antarctic. Am J Int Law 50:583–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/2195508. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Huber M (1928) Netherlands/United States of America, II Reports of International Arbitral Awards 829–871, [Island of Palmas Case]. https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_II/829-871.pdf. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
International Court of Justice (1953) The Minquiers and Ecrehos case, France/United Kingdom, Judgment of 17 November 1953. https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/17/017-19531117-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
International Court of Justice (n.d.) Permanent Court of International Justice. https://www.icj-cij.org/en/pcij. Last accessed 20 Aug 2022
Jost C (2005) Risques environnementaux et enjeux à Clipperton (Pacifique français), Cybergeo, Environnement, Nature, Paysage, document 314. https://doi.org/10.4000/cybergeo.3552
Khadduri M (1951) Iran’s claim to the sovereignty of Bahrayn. Am J Int Law 45:631–647. https://doi.org/10.2307/2194246. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Kunz JL (1953) The nature of customary international law. Am J Int Law 47:662–669. https://doi.org/10.2307/2194914. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
MacMillan K (2004) Disclosing a great error: John Dee’s answer to the papal bull inter Caetera. Terrae Incognitae 36(1):12–19. https://doi.org/10.1179/tin.2004.36.1.12
Orent B, Reinsch P (1941) Sovereignty over islands in the Pacific. Am J Int Law 35:443–461. https://doi.org/10.2307/2192452. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Park C-h (1998) Sharing the resources of the South China Sea. Mark J. Valencia, Jon M. Van Dyke, and Noel A. Ludwig. The Hague, Boston, London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1997. Pp. xi, 271. Index. F1 195; $121; £77. Am J Int Law 92:354–356. https://doi.org/10.2307/2998050. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Permanent Court of International Justice (1933) Legal status of Eastern Greenland Case, Denmark v. Norway, Judgment of 5 April 1933, P.C.I.J. Serie A/B No 43. https://jusmundi.com/en/document/decision/en-legal-status-of-eastern-greenland-judgment-wednesday-5th-april-1933#. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Pitman RL, Ballance LT, Bost C (2005) Clipperton Island: pig sty, rat hole and boobyprize. Mar Orn 33:193–194
Rangel Delgado JE (2019) Île De La Passion in the transpacific framework. Adv Hist Stud 8:91–98. https://doi.org/10.4236/ahs.2019.82006
Rovine AW (1974) Contemporary practice of the United States relating to international law. Am J Int Law 68:504–530. https://doi.org/10.2307/2200521. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Sachet M-H (1962) Geography and land ecology of Clipperton Island. Atoll Res Bull 86:1–115. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00775630.86.1
Schwarzenberger G (1957) Title to territory: response to a challenge. Am J Int Law 51:308–324. https://doi.org/10.2307/2195709. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Service hydrographique et océanographique de la Marine (SHOM) (2018) French maritime spaces of Clipperton Island, https://maritimelimits.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/download-maps/EN_Clipperton.pdf. Last accessed 24 Aug 2022
Tchékémian A (2022) Clipperton, seul territoire français dans l’océan Pacifique nord-oriental: quels enjeux environnementaux et géopolitiques? Études caribiéennes 51. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudescaribeennes.23485. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Toma PA (1956) Soviet attitude towards the acquisition of territorial sovereignty in the Antarctic. Am J Int Law 50:611–626. https://doi.org/10.2307/2195509. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) Adopted 10 December 1982, entered into force 16 November 1994, United Nations Treaty Series 3. https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/CTC/Ch_XXI_6_english_p.pdf. Last accessed 24 Aug 2022
Victor Emmanuel III (Clipperton Island Case, Mexico v. France) (1931) France-Mexico arbitral award on the subject of the difference relative to the sovereignty over Clipperton Island, 28 January 1931, Reports of International Arbitral Awards, 2: 1105–1101 (1931). https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_II/1105-1111.pdf. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022. Reprinted in: Am J Int Law (1932), 26:390–394. https://doi.org/10.2307/2189369. Last accessed 19 Aug 2022
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kirchner, S., Ulatowski, L. (2023). Clipperton Island. In: Gray, K.W. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_733-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_733-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68846-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68846-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities