The PODs for scenarios I'm presenting may have to happen before 1900, but the relevant discussion will mostly be after 1900, so I've placed my question here.
International law differentiates between internal waters; which are largely surrounded by land under the control of one state, territorial waters; extending (usually) 200 nautical miles from a state's shores or the boundary of its internal waters, and international waters.
Internal waters are treated as sovereign territory, international waters are free for use by any nation, and territorial waters are somewhere in between.
OTL the islands of the arctic ocean were gradually explored and claimed over many centuries, with control over Wrangel island only being settled (in USSR/Russia's favour) in the 1920s, and tiny Han's island still disputed (between Greenland/Denmark, and Canada). The classification of waters is still being decided, for example Canada considers all the waters between her arctic archipelago as internal waters, and all the water stretching in a triangle to the north pole as territorial waters. Russia makes claims on the base of the continental shelf, that her territorial waters should extend to or even past the north pole. Russia, Canada, and Denmark consider the Arctic different enough from the other oceans that different conventions should apply. The USA and many other nations dispute these claims, and treat any waters more that 200 nautical miles from shore as international.
Because the arctic is so isolated, and nearly uninhabitable and unnavigable, it has historically received little attention. Recently with ice melting and off-shore oil being discovered it has become a more prominent issue.
I wonder if one state had somehow come into control of all large arctic islands and a large part, or all, of it's shore, might that ocean be considered a sea? For example, if Canada had purchased Alaska, settled Wrangel, and then come into control of Greenland and Svalbard after the british seized them from Denmark, and the russian islands after the british seized those, might all of the 'Arctic Sea' be considered Canadian territory when TTL's 'United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea' is signed?
International law differentiates between internal waters; which are largely surrounded by land under the control of one state, territorial waters; extending (usually) 200 nautical miles from a state's shores or the boundary of its internal waters, and international waters.
Internal waters are treated as sovereign territory, international waters are free for use by any nation, and territorial waters are somewhere in between.
OTL the islands of the arctic ocean were gradually explored and claimed over many centuries, with control over Wrangel island only being settled (in USSR/Russia's favour) in the 1920s, and tiny Han's island still disputed (between Greenland/Denmark, and Canada). The classification of waters is still being decided, for example Canada considers all the waters between her arctic archipelago as internal waters, and all the water stretching in a triangle to the north pole as territorial waters. Russia makes claims on the base of the continental shelf, that her territorial waters should extend to or even past the north pole. Russia, Canada, and Denmark consider the Arctic different enough from the other oceans that different conventions should apply. The USA and many other nations dispute these claims, and treat any waters more that 200 nautical miles from shore as international.
Because the arctic is so isolated, and nearly uninhabitable and unnavigable, it has historically received little attention. Recently with ice melting and off-shore oil being discovered it has become a more prominent issue.
I wonder if one state had somehow come into control of all large arctic islands and a large part, or all, of it's shore, might that ocean be considered a sea? For example, if Canada had purchased Alaska, settled Wrangel, and then come into control of Greenland and Svalbard after the british seized them from Denmark, and the russian islands after the british seized those, might all of the 'Arctic Sea' be considered Canadian territory when TTL's 'United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea' is signed?