Encyclopedia > International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental international organization established in 1921. The IHO was the outgrowth of international conferences and congresses held as early as 1889. An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
The IHO is composed of its member states (represented by their respective hydrographic offices) with administration through the International Hydrographic Bureau with headquarters in Monaco. Direction of the Bureau is through directors elected by member states. The organization's function is to coordinate Hydrography and hydrographic activities of the member states. The IHO does not itself control significant hydrographic assets. A hydrographic office is an organisation which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information. ... Hydrography focuses on the measurement of physical characteristics of waters and marginal land. ...
The organization's goals are stated as "support the safety in navigation and the protection of the marine environment" with support of coordinated and uniform hydrographic products and surveys and by improving techniques of member states for producing those products.
The IHO publishes Limits of Oceans and Seas, which specifies the boundaries between the oceans. In 2000 they officially defined the boundaries of the Southern Ocean. The worlds oceans as seen from the South Pacific Ocean (from Okeanos, Greek for river, the ancient Greeks noticed that a strong current flowed off Gibraltar, and assumed it was a great river); covers almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth, and nearly half of the... This article is about the year 2000. ...
International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (or IALA for short) is a non-profit organization founded 1957 to collect and provide nautical expertise and advise. ...
Internationalorganizations so established are subjects of international law, capable of entering into agreements among themselves or with states.
Thus internationalorganizations in a legal sense are distinguished from mere groupings of states, such as the G-8 and the G-77, neither of which have been founded by treaty, though in non-legal contexts these are sometimes referred to as internationalorganizations as well.
Internationalorganizations must also be distinguished from treaties; while all internationalorganizations are founded on a treaty, many treaties (e.g., the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)) do not establish an internationalorganization and rely purely on the parties for their administration.
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