Update Log
Data update: Improved maritime locations in ACLED's global dataset
ACLED introduced improved location coding for events in international waters
On 11 May 2026, ACLED updated its approach to coding the locations of events occurring in international waters. Previously, such events were coded to the nearest coastal country in the ‘Country’ column, which often did not accurately reflect where the event occurred. Locations for affected events in international waters are being corrected for all previous data, with further updates to follow at a forthcoming date.
ACLED uses the 12 nautical mile (NM) threshold to distinguish territorial waters from international waters. Events within 12NM of a coastal baseline continue to be coded to the relevant coastal country in the Country column. Maritime events occurring beyond 12NM are coded according to the updated maritime geographic hierarchy, structured as follows:
|
ACLED column in dataset |
Description |
|
Country |
Records the major ocean basin or sea. For example, Atlantic Ocean. |
|
Admin 1 |
Records large regional divisions within each basin. For example, North Atlantic Ocean. |
|
Admin 2 |
Records major bodies of water including seas, gulfs, and straits. For example, Baltic Sea. |
|
Admin 3 |
Applied selectively to disaggregate larger bodies of water into sub-basins or zones where more granular geographic detail is required. For example, Gulf of Finland. |
|
Location |
Records the centroid coordinates of the relevant Admin 3 unit, or the Admin 2 unit where no Admin 3 disaggregation applies. For example, Gulf of Finland (centroid). |
Analytical note: The updated maritime geographic hierarchy is applied to all international waters events in ACLED’s global dataset. Events previously coded under a country in the Country column may now appear under an ocean basin. Users should update their queries accordingly, for more see ACLED’s API documentation.