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Piracy is robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on shore, without permission from a nation. Maritime piracy, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, consists of any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state. The English "pirate" is derived from the Latin term pirata and that from Greek pe??at?? (peirates) "brigand",[1] ultimately from peira (pe??a) "attempt, experience",[2] implicitly "to find luck on the sea". The word is also cognate to peril. In 17th and 18th century sources the word is often rendered "pyrate". However, the term does not exclusively relate to robbery committed at sea, as other similar origins have a broader definition.[3] Pirates have been around as long as people have used the oceans as trade routes. The earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the Aegean and Mediterranean in the 13th century BC.[4] In Classical Antiquity, the Tyrrhenians and Thracians were known as pirates. The island of Lemnos long resisted Greek influence and remained a haven for Thracian pirates. During their voyages the Phoenicians seem to have sometimes resorted to piracy, and specialized in kidnapping boys and girls to be sold as slaves.[5] By the 1st century BC, there were pirate states along the Anatolian coast, threatening the commerce of the Roman Empire.
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