Editing Arctic (section)

=== Territorial claims ===
{{Main|Territorial claims in the Arctic}}
While there are several ongoing [[territorial claims in the Arctic]], no country owns the geographic [[North Pole]] or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The surrounding six Arctic states that border the Arctic Ocean—Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (with Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Russia, and the United States—are limited to a {{Convert|200|NM|lk=in}} [[exclusive economic zone]] (EEZ) off their coasts. Two Arctic states (Finland and Sweden) do not have direct access to the Arctic Ocean.

Upon ratification of the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]], a country has ten years to make claims to an [[extended continental shelf]] beyond its 200 nautical mile zone.<ref name="Buixade Farre 2014"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/annex2.htm |title=United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Annex 2, Article 4) |access-date=26 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716080502/http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/annex2.htm |archive-date=16 July 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Due to this, Norway (which ratified the convention in 1996),<ref name="ratif">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/reference_files/chronological_lists_of_ratifications.htm |date=22 April 2009 |access-date=30 April 2009 |title=Chronological lists of ratifications of, accessions and successions to the Convention and the related Agreements |publisher=United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414043900/http://www.un.org/depts/los/reference_files/chronological_lists_of_ratifications.htm |archive-date=14 April 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Russia (ratified in 1997),<ref name="ratif" /> Canada (ratified in 2003)<ref name="ratif" /> and the Kingdom of Denmark (ratified in 2004)<ref name="ratif" /> launched projects to establish claims that certain sectors of the Arctic seabed should belong to their territories.

On 2 August 2007, two Russian [[bathyscaphe]]s, [[Mir (submersible)|MIR-1 and MIR-2]], for the first time in history descended to the Arctic [[seabed]] beneath the North Pole and placed there a [[flag of Russia|Russian flag]] made of rust-proof [[titanium alloys|titanium alloy]]. The flag-placing, during [[Arktika 2007]], generated commentary on and concern for a race for control of the Arctic's vast hydrocarbon resources.<ref>Yenikeyeff, S. M. and Fenton Krysiek, Timothy (August 2007). [http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Aug2007-TheBattleforthenextenergyfrontier-ShamilYenikeyeff-and-TimothyFentonKrysiek.pdf ''The Battle for the Next Energy Frontier: The Russian Polar Expedition and the Future of Arctic Hydrocarbons''.] [[Oxford Institute for Energy Studies]]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710021201/http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Aug2007-TheBattleforthenextenergyfrontier-ShamilYenikeyeff-and-TimothyFentonKrysiek.pdf|date=10 July 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Map of the Arctic region showing the Northeast Passage, the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage, and bathymetry.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of the Arctic region showing the [[Northeast Passage]], the [[Northern Sea Route]] within it, and the [[Northwest Passage]].]]
Foreign ministers and other officials representing Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States met in [[Ilulissat|Ilulissat, Greenland]] on 28 May 2008 at the [[Arctic Ocean Conference]] and announced the [[Ilulissat Declaration]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Conference in Ilulissat, Greenland: Landmark political declaration on the future of the Arctic |url=http://www.um.dk/en/servicemenu/news/newsarchives2008/conferenceinilulissatgreenlandlandmarkpoliticaldeclarationonthefutureofthearctic.htm |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark]] |date=28 May 2008 |access-date=30 April 2009}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/BE00B850-D278-4489-A6BE-6AE230415546/0/ArcticOceanConference.pdf |title=The Ilulissat Declaration |date=28 May 2008 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark |access-date=6 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626152700/http://www.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/BE00B850-D278-4489-A6BE-6AE230415546/0/ArcticOceanConference.pdf |archive-date=26 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> blocking any "new comprehensive international legal regime to govern the Arctic Ocean," and pledging "the orderly settlement of any possible overlapping claims."<ref name="Buixade Farre 2014"/><ref>{{cite news |first=Randy |last=Boswell |title=Conference could mark start of Arctic power struggle |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=d0135cd8-c15a-48a3-9579-0df5f8e185c1 |publisher=canada.com |date=28 May 2008 |access-date=6 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304204151/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=d0135cd8-c15a-48a3-9579-0df5f8e185c1 |archive-date=4 March 2009}}</ref>

As of 2012, the Kingdom of Denmark is claiming the [[continental shelf]] based on the [[Lomonosov Ridge]] between Greenland and over the North Pole to the northern limit of the [[exclusive economic zone of Russia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.8261208 |title=Dansker vil dokumentere territorialkrav i Arktis |publisher=[[NRK]] |language=no |date=28 July 2012 |access-date=15 June 2015 |archive-date=31 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831051058/http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.8261208 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Russian Federation is also [[Continental shelf of Russia#2001 extension claim|claiming a large swath of seabed]] along the Lomonosov Ridge but, unlike Denmark, confined its claim to its side of the Arctic region. In August 2015, Russia made a supplementary submission for the expansion of the external borders of its continental shelf in the [[Arctic Ocean]], asserting that the eastern part of the Lomonosov Ridge and the [[Mendeleyev Ridge]] is an extension of the [[Eurasia]]n continent. In August 2016, the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf]] began to consider Russia's submission.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maritimeherald.com/2017/russia-claims-the-application-for-expansion-of-danish-borders-in-the-arctic-shelf/ |title=Russia claims the application for expansion of Danish borders in the Arctic shelf |date=2017-01-23 |access-date=22 January 2018 |archive-date=22 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125538/http://www.maritimeherald.com/2017/russia-claims-the-application-for-expansion-of-danish-borders-in-the-arctic-shelf/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Canada claims the [[Northwest Passage]] as part of its [[Canadian Internal Waters|internal waters]] belonging to Canada, while the United States and most maritime nations<ref>{{cite web |author=The Edmonton Journal |url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6d4815ac-4fdb-4cf3-a8a6-4225a8bd08df&k=73925 |url-status=dead |title=Northwest Passage gets political name change |publisher=Canada.com |date=9 April 2006 |access-date=31 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402114448/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6d4815ac-4fdb-4cf3-a8a6-4225a8bd08df&k=73925 |archive-date=2 April 2016}}</ref> regards it as an [[Territorial waters|international strait]], which means that foreign vessels have right of transit passage.<ref>{{cite news |title=The US is picking a fight with Canada over a thawing Arctic shipping route |url=https://qz.com/1653831/the-us-is-picking-a-fight-with-canada-over-an-arctic-shipping-route/ |work=Quartz |date=June 27, 2019 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814025007/https://qz.com/1653831/the-us-is-picking-a-fight-with-canada-over-an-arctic-shipping-route/ |url-status=live}}</ref>