Editing Northern Canada (section)

===Territoriality===
Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between [[60th meridian west|60°W]] and [[141st meridian west|141°W]] longitude, extending all the way north to the [[North Pole]]: All islands in the [[Arctic Archipelago]] and [[Herschel Island|Herschel]], off the Yukon coast, form part of the region and are Canadian territory, and the [[territorial waters]] claimed by Canada surround these islands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509193315/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1 |archive-date=May 9, 2012 |title=Territorial Evolution, 1927 |date=March 18, 2009}}</ref> Views of territorial claims in this region are complicated by disagreements on legal principles. Canada and the [[Soviet Union]]/[[Russia]] have long claimed that their territory extends according to the [[sector principle]] to the North Pole. The United States does not accept the sector principle and does not make a sector claim based on its [[Alaska]]n Arctic coast. Claims that undersea geographic features are extensions of a country's [[continental shelf]] are also used to support claims; for example the Denmark/[[Greenland]] claim on territory to the North Pole, some of which is disputed by Canada.

Foreign ships, both civilian and military, are allowed the right of [[innocent passage]] through the territorial waters of a [[Littoral zone|littoral]] state subject to conditions in the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globelaw.com/LawSea/ls82_1.htm|title=GlobeLaw.com|website=www.globelaw.com}}</ref> The right of innocent passage is not allowed, however, in [[internal waters]], which are enclosed bodies of water or waters landward of a chain of islands. Disagreements about the sector principle or extension of territory to the North Pole and about the definition of internal waters in the Arctic lie behind differences in [[territorial claims in the Arctic]]. This claim is recognized by most countries with some exceptions, including the United States; Denmark, Russia, and Norway have made claims similar to those of Canada in the Arctic and are opposed by the European Union and the United States. This is especially important with the [[Northwest Passage]], which Canada asserts control of as part of [[Canadian Internal Waters]] because it is within {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} of Canadian islands; however, the United States claims that it is in [[international waters]]. As of 2023, ice and freezing temperatures have always made this a minor issue, but [[climate change]] may make the passage more accessible to shipping. Furthermore, the thawing of the polar ice cap increases the mutual proximity of Canada and Russia as a result of the historically unusable Arctic Ocean becoming increasingly navigable.<ref>Paikin, Zach. "[http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Canada-The-Arctic-Middle-Man-2014-08-21 Canada: The Arctic Middle Man]" ''Maritime Executive'', 21 August 2014. Accessed: 11 September 2014.</ref>