Denmark challenges Russia and Canada over North Pole. 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.
Lidegaard said data collected since 2002 backed Denmark's
claim to an approximate area of 895,000 sq km (346,000 sq miles)- roughly 20
times the size of Denmark - beyond Greenland's nautical borders. Danish
scientists were firm in their claim on Monday. "The Lomonosov ridge is the
natural extension of the Greenland shelf," Christian Marcussen of the
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of Denmark's Syddansk University said
the government in Copenhagen had staked its claim, partly to show the world
that Denmark could not be pushed about, but also to prove a political point to the
people of Greenland. "There's a strong push for independence in Greenland,
and Denmark wants to show it's capable of taking its interest into
account," he told the BBC. "By taking this step, Copenhagen is
sending a signal to Greenland: 'Listen, we're on your team'."
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 -
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