What nation is rightfully in possession of the North Pole?

Question

There seems to be a lot of contention regarding ownership of vast regions of the Arctic. Who really owns the geographic north pole.

No Santa Claus answers please.

Answer 1

None.

The United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea establishes various zones of sovereignty and possession of oceanic waters:

(1) internal waters (like bays and sounds, for example)

(2) territorial waters (12 nautical miles from the coast)

(3) the contiguous zone (12 nautical miles beyond territorial waters)

(4) the Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nautical miles from the coast)

(5) the continental shelf (which can be difficult to define)

(6) International waters

Generally, everything beyond the EEZ is considered international waters unless a nation can prove its continental shelf extends further than that (difficult to do).

Where neighboring countries have overlapping zones, they usually negotiate a boundary, usually the equidistant line.

Canada, Denmark, and Russia claim something called the "Sector Principle" where they take land boundaries and draw straight lines to the pole or out into the ocean.  Other countries did this in Antarctica.  Neither Norway or the United States recognize the Sector Principle and so (for example) Canada and the United States have on-going boundary disputes at four different places in all three oceans they touch.

Anyway, because the Sector Principle is contentious among many nations, countries like Russia (for example) are attempting to prove their continental shelf extends all the way to the North Pole as another way to claim this spot.  However, the Law of the Sea says that this extension cannot go past 350 nautical miles, nor can it extend over waters that are deeper than 2,500 meters.

In any case, the North Pole is far enough from land (380 nautical miles from any land) and is over water that is very deep (about 4,300 meters) such that it is international waters.  No country that is a member of the United Nations has a legal right to claim this spot, although some are saying they do.  Ironically, Canada, Russia, Denmark and Norway have all ratified the UNCLOS (it's the law there).  The United States has signed it but not ratified it, bus it NOT claiming the North Pole.

Really what you're seeing is the same kind of geopolitics that spread colonialism around the world and fueled the Cold War for so many decades.  It's mostly political huff by various countries wanting to look more important.

Answer 2

It's a couple countries claiming stake to it including Canada, Russia, and the United States.  Some people think a world war might be fought over the land (for the oil).

BK

Answer 3

The Russians planted a flag there in 2007,officially laying claim to it,but that doesn't mean they actually own it. As you

say,there's a lot of contention.

Answer 4

No, since it is not a earth but a sea (frozen)

Answer 5

No one, because it isn't a land mass, it's a sheet of ice. That's why you won't see it on globes or maps of earth that depict land mass.

But even if there was land underneath the ice (e.g. Antartica) then it would just be used by many countries for research and mining for minerals, oil etc. there would be no reason for a country to claim it as it would be very difficult to develop anything there.

Answer 6

None.  The North Pole happens to be in the Arctic Ocean.  It's not part of anybody's territory.

<<There seems to be a lot of contention regarding ownership of vast regions of the Arctic.>>

I've no idea where you've got that idea from, as there isn't.  Large regions of the Arctic area, which is a far wider term than the North Pole, are parts of various countries, and there are no sovereignty disputes about any of them.

Update

<<KTDykes, I might suggest you read the odd newspaper once in awhile! The Russians recently planted a titanium poled Russian flag below the NORTH POLE. Vast area in this region ARE claimed by a few nations, and Russian forces have been conducing exercises there lately!>>

Thanks for the suggestion.  Might I suggest you read up on the term 'North Pole'?  It isn't a region.  It's a small point in the Arctic Ocean.  Being in the ocean, it can't be claimed by anybody unless it's within the territorial waters of a country, just as the North Pole isn't.

You might also do well to learn to distinguish between areas of territory, which are on land, territorial waters, which are off the coasts of land, and international waters.  There is no means of claiming international waters, and that happens to be where the North Pole is located.

Update 2

<<Oh here is something I just found d**e...>>

Very pretty, but the nearest land is over 400 miles away.