TERRITORIO DELLO STATO. – It is disputed whether territory is to be regarded as an essential element of the State, but under positive Italian law an affirmative answer does not appear doubtful, if one bears in mind, above all other arguments, that
an attack against the integrity of the Italian State constitutes a crime against its (international) personality (Art. 241 of the Penal Code). In the absence of conventions, it is commonly held that boundaries are marked, in the case of mountains, by their watershed; in the case of rivers, by the median line (the median line of the main current, if they are navigable); and, in the case of lakes, by the straight line joining the coastal boundary points. Italian boundaries derive in part from long and contested possession (of the former Kingdom of Sardinia), and in part from treaties (and the corresponding internal implementing provisions) of incorporation or dismemberment.
In brief, the following belong to the t. dello S.: first, the mainland and the waters enclosed within it; second, the “territorial sea,” that is, the coastal maritime zone dominated for defensive purposes by artillery, according to a principle of international law commonly accepted but variously understood (ranging from 3 to 12 nautical miles). Beyond it lies the “open sea,” that is, the sea open to the free navigation of all. Under Italian law (Navigation Code, Art. 2), gulfs, inlets, and bays whose coasts form part of the State territory are subject to the sovereignty of the State when the distance between the extreme points of the opening of the gulf, inlet, or bay does not exceed 20 nautical miles. If that distance exceeds 20 miles, the portion of the gulf, inlet, or bay lying within the straight line drawn between the two outermost points 20 nautical miles apart is subject to the sovereignty of the State. Also subject to the sovereignty of the State is a strip of sea extending 6 nautical miles along the continental and insular coasts of that State and along the straight lines joining the extreme points indicated above. This extent is measured from the coastal line marked by low tide. The different provisions established for specific purposes by laws, regulations, or international conventions (e.g., the passage of foreign ships, customs, and health policing) nevertheless remain unaffected. The subsoil and the airspace above the mainland and the territorial sea also belong to the t. dello S. (the Code cited, Art. 3). Other internal and international provisions concern the so-called extraterritoriality of self-propelled vehicles, aircraft, and airships, both civilian and military.
The theories concerning the nature of the State’s right over its own territory are diverse: some conceive this right as objective (real), while others regard it as subjective (a kind of right over one’s own person); more generally, eliminating the problem at bottom or considering it nonexistent, some hold that it is simply an element determining the validity of legal norms or a limit on the spatial extent of sovereignty.