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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=NL-BE link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><img width=102 height=88 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01CDCF00.C4A66040" alt="logo_border_small"><img width=200 height=41 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.png@01CDCF00.C4A66040" alt="logotekst_small"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Dear colleagues,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>We are very happy to present to you <a href="http://www.marineregions.org/">Marine Regions</a>, an online standard list of georeferenced marine place names, areas, regions, marine and maritime boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Marine Regions is created by merging information from the VLIMAR Marine Gazetteer and the MARBOUND database. These initiatives provide information on marine place names and on different marine and maritime boundaries, including the World Exclusive Economic Zones. The system defines different relations between the geographic objects (similar to, part of, adjacent to…) allowing the user to group joint geographic units and to create a hierarchical classification of different places. In order to preserve the identity of the marine geographic objects from the database, and to name and locate the geographic resources on the web, we maintain a persistent Marine Regions Geographic IDentifier, or the MRGID. The information is freely available and can be accessed through several web services which allow the user to have direct access to the geographic data, maps and metadata.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Marine Regions is initiated by the Flanders Marine Institute. With the launch of Marine Regions, we are also aiming at the establishment of an international editorial board, responsible for the content, quality control and promotion of Marine Regions. You can apply for membership by sending your contact details, interest and proposed contribution to <a href="mailto:info@marineregions.org">info@marineregions.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Looking forward to welcoming you at <a href="http://www.marineregions.org">www.marineregions.org</a>,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Marine Regions Management Team<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>