Boundaries and nature of the continental shelf in the Arctic: keys to extension of the exclusive economic zone and ensuring Russia’s sovereignty

The article presents the history of territorial delimitation of states in the Arctic, the approach to defining and expanding the borders of Russia in the Arctic zone. After the ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1997, the territory of the Arctic Ocean with an area of about 1.2 million km2, previously considered part of the Arctic polar possessions of the USSR/Russia, was found to be outside the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of Russia. In order to obtain direct evidence of the continental nature of the earth’s crust in this zone, geological sampling of the bottom rocks within the Mendeleev Rise, Alpha and Lomonosov Ridges was carried out. The results of geological and geophysical studies of the Central Arctic uplifts and troughs were presented to the UN Commission on the Continental Shelf, which at the 57th session in February 2023 adopted official recommendations on expanding the outer boundary of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation in accordance with the application.