Arctic international claims.

Sovereignty disputes concerning the Arctic region. Before the 1970’s, a harsh climate, polar sea ice, and physical isolation tended to keep the Arctic region out of any serious international disputes. However, such a dispute unfolded in the region in 1969-1970, when an American oil company decided to send one of its supertankers into the Northwest Passage, a series of navigable straits among Canada’s northern islands that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.