Nations meet to claim Arctic prize - 28 May 08

Who owns and controls the Arctic Ocean? Experts suggest a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas may be found beneath it and the melting ice cover means those reserves are becoming more accessible. With several countries with Arctic coastlines looking to get "their share", Denmark is hosting a meeting in Greenland to see if they can agree on an orderly way forward, but can they avoid a free-for-all? Mark Seddon reports.

Category:

News & Politics

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• aljazeera
• al
• jazeera
• arctic
• greenland
• mark
• seddon
• energy
• resources
• oil
• gas

[CrackerJackLee]

As per the following, Denmark may get a bumpy ride from Norway or Greenland! Norway claimed Greenland before 1605, the year a danish expedition claimed it. Norway made another claim in 1924. In 1953 an international court ratified Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland. Denmark controls its foreign affairs and military defense. Denmark's parliament granted Greenland self-government in 1980. They joined the EU with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute over stringent fishing quotas.

[CrackerJackLee]

were the Native Inuit People of Greenland at the table when the five Arctic countries held their talks? the arctic circle belongs to the Eskimo! now, suddenly, white euros see a use for the arctic! will these people be represented and get a fair share of the wealth? Inuit people better wake up and put on their thinking caps to organize or the Danes will ride them into the ground (ice)! LOL! Denmark expects a lion's share of arctic oil and they only have 7000 danish people in all of Greenland?

[CrackerJackLee]

would Denmark consider military action against the Inuit of Greenland if they decided to become independent? after all, 88% of Greenland is Native Inuit People. Why should Denmark get the oil when all they did was steal the land from these people? LOL! Danes are as good as Canadians when it come to stealing land from Native Peoples! someone should be talking to the Native People of Greenland and explain to them that they were already there before Denmark "discovered" them. i hope the UN steps in

[CrackerJackLee]

Inkan, you raised the best point of all.

POP: 58k of whom 88% are Native People.

why should stinky ol' white ass danish europeans get the arctic oil, when 90% of Greenland is Inuit Native People? how could denmark "discover" Greenland, when it was already there - and inhabited by Inuit People??

[Inkan1969]

Greenland has more people than a lot of already independent countries. But jerkinp has better points.

[CrackerJackLee]

when you look at a polar projection map, you will see that denmark's share is small compared to russia and canada.

[mieroth]

I'm still rooting for Denmark since I don't trust Canada or Russia in the arctic. Ideally no one would gain access to it and it will remain UNTOUCHED.

[CrackerJackLee]

there's nobody there! LOL! next thing denmark will do is to claim half the moon as Moonland! then they will have a stake in the resources there. they're not so dumb, are they?

[CrackerJackLee]

if it all belonged to america, would you still be so critical? what really concerns america is that the northern countries, canada and russia have become the leaders in natural resources anbd water. and never forget that after his innaugeration, your president changed a 250 year old protocol and visited mexico first before canada! maybe you value tacos and burritos more than anything else. go to mexico when you need water!

[CrackerJackLee]

global warming only hurts southern countries like EU & US. northern countries like russia & canada will greatly improve their growing season, usable land, and natural resources/oil. canadians should not back off their future just because BananaLanders are spoiled and think that the world revolves around them. watch as NY and LA slip into poverty while canada & russia begin a new future. the world has changed. do you realize that you don't have sole entitlement to the good life? now let others...