This comes up now and again, and the answer is that there are multiple possible outcomes. As with many international-law issues of personal status, like dual citizenship and so forth, there are multiple countries with an interest in the outcome and a body of their own citizenship and international law, and those claims and interests are not necessarily aligned and non-overlapping. And it also depends what the interests of the child (expressed, i.e., through her parents) are and how they are presented. The most obvious and likely outcome is that the child will have (at least) Jordanian citizenship, in the same way as if the mother gave birth during a vacation or trip out of the country. If the birth occurred in Canadian airspace or on the ground in Canada, the child may also possibly be able to claim Canadian citizenship. Some countries also give citizenship weight to the place of recording of a birth in international waters/airspace (I don't know if Canada does) under the so-called "next port of call" rule. The claim of the Netherlands (due to the aircraft's registry) is relatively weak, but depends specifically on Dutch admiralty/aviation law, and its laws of abjuration of jurisdiction and deference to other countries' claims. But there's no slam-dunk answer. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Aug 18, 2004, at 7:07 PM, Mark Greenwood wrote: > If a Jordanian woman gave birth on a Dutch plane traveling from > Amsterdam to > Chicago while over international airspace, but is now resting > comfortably in > a Canadian hospital... what nationality is the baby?