Via the BBC:
Denmark has presented a claim to the UN, arguing that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory. Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said it was a “historic and important milestone” for Denmark. Canada and Russia have already asserted their own sovereignty over the energy-rich Arctic territory. Arctic nations have agreed that a UN panel will settle the dispute. The focus of the dispute is the Lomonosov Ridge, a 1,800km-long (1,120 miles) underwater mountain range that splits the Arctic in two. Back in 2008, a US Geological Survey report estimated that as much as 22% of the world’s undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle, but the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters.
A panel of UN scientists will evaluate Denmark’s claim.
