A couple of years ago, a Canadian minister proudly declared that Santa Claus was a citizen of Canada. After all, his home and toy factory are at the North Pole, which, according to the minister's interpretation, belongs to Canada.
Though Santa Claus has not commented on the matter, it is now clear that he could choose several passports when he travels the world. In 2007, a privately funded mini-submarine planted a Russian flag directly beneath his alleged home. And last month, Denmark, which has sovereignty over Greenland, staked its own territorial claim, also covering the North Pole.
By filing its claim with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Denmark has joined our era's "great game": the contest for economic control over a large part of the Arctic. And Denmark's claim is massive. Not only does it seek sovereignty over everything between Greenland and the North Pole; it is also extending its claim to nearly 900,000 sq. km, all the way to the existing limits of the Russian economic zone on the other side of the Pole — an area 20 times Denmark's size.