The International Global Waters Assessment will be based on assessments of 66 international waters, of the ecological status of these water areas and the causes of environmental problems of the regions — international waters comprising marine, coastal and freshwater areas, and surface waters as well as groundwaters — in nine major regions. Focus will be on the key issues and problems facing the aquatic environment in these international waters.

All the regions can be found on the temporary map. Links are provided from the map to pages with some basic information about each region.
Please note that the map only gives rough indications of the geographic location of the 66 water regions. It contains no information on drainage areas and is not to be viewed as more than a simple geographic guide.

On each water-region page, a more detailed map of the water region — including its drainage area — will eventually be published. Initially, maps already available (online or offline) will be used. One will find links to assessments made of the environmental status of the region, and later on the regional GIWA assessments will be published. Links are also provided to information on regional water agreements and action programmes, and to organizations and other major actors working with the agreements. When the GIWA Focal Points and Megaregional Hosts have been appointed, that contact info will be published.

North Atlantic
2. Gulf of Mexico*
3. Caribbean Sea*
4. Caribbean Islands
5. Southeast Shelf*
6. Northeast Shelf*
7. Scotian Shelf*
8. Gulf of St. Lawrence
9. Newfoundland Shelf*
10. Baffin Bay, Labrador Sea,
Canadian Archipelago
11. Barents Sea*
12. Norwegian Sea*
13. Faroe plateau
14. Iceland Shelf *
15. East Greenland Shelf*
16. West Greenland Shelf*
17. Baltic Sea*
18. North Sea*
19. Celtic-Biscay Shelf*
20. Iberian Coastal*
21. Mediterranean Sea*
22. Black Sea*
23. Caspian Sea
24. Aral Sea

North Pacific
25. Gulf of Alaska*
26. California Current*
27. Gulf of California*
28. East Bering Sea*
29. West Bering Sea*
30. Sea of Okhotsk*
31. Oyashio Current*
32. Kuroshio Current*
33. Sea of Japan*
34. Yellow Sea*
35. Bohai Sea
36. East-China Sea*
37. Hawaiian Archipelago*

Sub-Saharan Africa
41. Canary Current*
42. Guinea Current*
43. Lake Chad
44. Benguela Current*
45a. Agulhas Current*
45b. Indian Ocean Islands
46. Somali Coastal Current*
47. East African Rift Valley Lakes

Indian Ocean
48. Gulf of Aden
49. Red Sea*
50. The Gulf
51. Jordan
52. Arabian Sea*
53. Bay of Bengal

S.E. Asia and the South Pacific
54. South China Sea*
55. Mekong River
56. Sulu-Celebes Sea*
57. Indonesian Seas*
58. North Australian Shelf*
59. Coral Sea Basin
60. Great Barrier Reef*
61. Great Australian Bight
62. Small Island States
63. Tasman Sea

Southeast Pacific
64. Humboldt Current*
65. Eastern Equatorial Pacific

Antarctic
66. Antarctic*