WASHINGTON: The US expands territory by one million square kilometers by invoking international law.
The State Department outlined an area that is roughly 60 percent the size of Alaska. The new boundaries were officially announced by the Statement on December 19, following the footsteps of 75 other countries who have redefined their continental shelf boundaries.
The expansion of this territory lies at how U.S. continental shelf boundaries are defined by the government, the Earth.com claimed.
Concept of Extended Continental Shelf
In order to understand the recent expansion of US territory, it is pivotal to understand the concept of the Extended Continental Shelf.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) explains the concept as the “part of the seabed over which a coastal State exercises sovereign rights with regard to the exploration and exploitation of natural resources”.
The international law permits coastal nations to claim these extended shelves, “along with the right to manage and exploit their resources,” Earth.com claimed.
