Santa Claus and Hamlet have something in common: They both live in Denmark. That is, if you accept Denmark’s claim to the North Pole.
The big, cold island of Greenland is in the Kingdom of Denmark, and Denmark says the island’s northern continental shelf has a ridge that includes 895000 square km (345561 square miles) of the Arctic seabed. Russia and Canada have claims in as well.
Why would any of these countries want to own the Arctic? In addition to Santa’s Workshop, it’s got 22% of the world’s undiscovered, recoverable oil and natural gas. Global warming means it will become easier to get at these resources by boat.
More:
“Why does Denmark think it can lay claim to the north pole?” Patrick Barkham, The Guardian
“Denmark stakes its claim in the war for the North Pole,” Rick Noack, Washington Post
“Denmark Eyes North Pole, but How Much Oil and Gas Await?” Wendy Koch, National Geographic
“90 Billion Barrels of Oil and 1,670 Trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas Assessed in the Arctic,” U.S. Geological Survey
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