Major Territory Disputes Around The World

Beaufort Sea Wedge: A Battle For Resources

Mike Slaughter/Toronto Star via Getty Images

The Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that is near the Yukon, Alaska, and Canada’s Arctic Islands. While the sea and its climate are very harsh, a discovery was made between the 1950s and 1980s that there was a large resource of natural gas underneath the ice and water.

This brought about a border dispute between Canada and Alaska over a wedge in the International Boundary of the Beaufort Sea, which lies between the Canadian territory of Yukon and the United State’s Alaska. What makes this spot so important to both countries is that according to Canada’s Natural Energy Board, the seabed contains enough natural gas to power Canada’s national consumption for 20 years.

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