[Sixstrings]

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Scientific data shows Greenland's continental shelf is connected to a ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, giving Danes a claim to the North Pole and any potential energy resources beneath it, Denmark's foreign minister said.

Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said Denmark will deliver a claim on Monday to a United Nations panel in New York that will eventually decide control of the area, which Russia and Canada are also coveting.

The five Arctic countries — the United States, Russia, Norway, Canada and Denmark — all have areas surrounding the North Pole, but only Canada and Russia had indicated an interest in it before Denmark's claim.

Lidegaard told the AP that the Arctic nations so far "have stuck to the rules of the game" and he hoped they would continue to do so.
http://news.yahoo.com/denmark-claims-north-pole-via-greenland-ridge-214732912.html

Does anyone know the legalities of the north pole? How can anyone "claim" it, what's the international law about it?

[Peak_Yeast]

As far as I have understood the Danish media in this. The legality is that if the geological formation that is part of Denmark continues under the North pole then international law says that the part (of the north pole) belongs to the country which has the geological formation. But there is also an international law that says that a country must mark their territory at least once a year - Russia tried a few years ago to claim northern greenland and thus the North pole by using this rule.

More or less as it says in the article: "The Lomonosov ridge is the natural extension of the Greenland shelf," ''said Christian Marcussen, a senior geophysicist with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. "AND Coincidentally, the North Pole which is a tiny, tiny abstract spot lies in the area." (inserted an AND which seems to be missing?)

[ROCKMAN]

Not as much by geology per se but geography. More specifically what might be claimed as part of a country’s “shelf area”:

The Arctic consists of land, territorial waters and international waters. All land and territorial waters in the Arctic belong to one of the five countries Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark (via Greenland). International law regulates this, like for any other area of the earth.

Under international law, international waters including the North Pole and the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it, is not owned by any country. The five surrounding Arctic countries are limited to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) adjacent to their coasts. The waters beyond the territorial waters of the coastal states are considered the "high seas" (i.e. international waters). The sea bottom beyond the exclusive economic zones and confirmed extended continental shelf claims are considered to be the "heritage of all mankind" and administered by the UN International Seabed Authority.

Upon ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a country has a ten-year period to make claims to an extended continental shelf which, if validated, gives it exclusive rights to resources on or below the seabed of that extended shelf area. Norway (ratified the convention in 1996), Russia (ratified in 1997, Canada (ratified in 2003) and Denmark (ratified in 2004) launched projects to provide a basis for seabed claims on extended continental shelves beyond their exclusive economic zones. The United States has signed, but not yet ratified the UNCLOS.