The Arctic is an enormous area surrounding the North Pole, which encompasses over one sixth of the world’s land mass. The majority of the Arctic is made up of the ocean, which is covered by an ice sheet larger than Europe, but there are also some large areas of dry land. No state owns the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean, but as the melting of the ice cap opens up new maritime routes and allows for deep-sea mining, parties from all continents have expressed interest in the area.
The Arctic is an enormous area surrounding the North Pole, which encompasses over one sixth of the world’s land mass. The majority of the Arctic is made up of the ocean, which is covered by an ice sheet larger than Europe, but there are also some large areas of dry land. No state owns the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean, but as the melting of the ice cap opens up new maritime routes and allows for deep-sea mining, parties from all continents have expressed interest in the area.
14.06.2013, Oliver Mõru (ICDS Intern)
The Arctic is an enormous area surrounding the North Pole, which encompasses over one sixth of the world’s land mass. The majority of the Arctic is made up of the ocean, which is covered by an ice sheet larger than Europe, but there are also some large areas of dry land. No state owns the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean, but as the melting of the ice cap opens up new maritime routes and allows for deep-sea mining, parties from all continents have expressed interest in the area.
Download: Overview of the Arctic (PDF)