Mapping Arctic Boundary Disputes

Durham University’s International Boundaries Research Unit has made a map that illustrates the various disputes over the Arctic. The BBC reports:

“Its primary purpose is to inform discussions and debates because, frankly, there has been a lot of rubbish about who can claim (sovereignty) over what,” explained Martin Pratt, director of the university’s International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU).

“To be honest, most of the other maps that I have seen in the media have been very simple,” he added.

“We have attempted to show all known claims; agreed boundaries and one thing that has not appeared on any other maps, which is the number of areas that could be claimed by Canada, Denmark and the US.”

The map is available here.

Another example of  how geography and cartography can affect international law.

Hat tip: Futurismic