Denmark joins tussle to challenge Canada's, Russia's claim over North Pole

Arguing that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, Denmark has presented a claim to the United Nations.

The focus of the dispute is the 1,800 km-long underwater mountain range, Lomonosov Ridge, which divides the Arctic into two. While Canada and Russia have already asserted their claim over the energy-rich area, Denmark stepped into the tussle by presenting the claim on Monday, reported the BBC.

A U.S. Geological Survey report estimated in 2008 that almost 22 percent of the world's undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle but added that the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters.

Denmark, Russia, Canada and the U.S. had decided in 2008 that the territorial dispute should be settled under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

After ratifying the convention, the states were given 10 years to submit a claim to extend their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its borders.

The 21-member panel evaluating the competing claims to the pole will have to decide if the scientific evidence put forward is valid. If the claims overlap, the concerned states will then have to negotiate, the spokesman said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard welcomed the move as a "historic and important milestone" for Denmark.