The Arctic: Common Heritage or Common Problem?

The Arctic takes in part of Russia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Alaska (USA), Greenland (an autonomous Danish territory), Iceland and the Arctic Ocean, which is covered with ice and constitutes the center of the Arctic. There have been disputes between Denmark, Canada, Norway, Russia, and the USA concerning the borders of the Continental shelf of the Arctic Ocean.The author describes the achievements of the Russian expedition, 'Arctic 2007', and the way in which Russia uses the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. The essay also describes how the convention regulates the problem of the border of the continental shelf. He considers that in the future it may come to the partitioning of the Arctic Ocean's continental shelf along with the simultaneous fixing of 'concessions', allowing the use of shipping lanes in the Arctic by the international community