Sovereignty Over the North Pole: Home

Answer:  A tricky question.  It's unclear who has sovereignty over the North Pole.  Russia planted a flag underwater near the North Pole to stake its claim in 2007.  Canada countered soon after by promising to build military bases there.  From a 2008 symposium on Arctic Sovereignty (HeinOnline):

"The Arctic is clearly not terra nullius.  The Arctic states of Canada, the United States, Russia, Norway, and Denmark already have long-standing, if only roughly sketched, sovereignty interests in this territory.  Sweden, Finland, and Iceland also have interests in the broader Polar region.  In addition to these national claims, the Inuit and other Northern peoples have their own set of claims based on the fact that they have lived and worked in this region for centuries, or millennia.  Nevertheless, the specter of terra nullius haunts the Arctic."

Resources: 

• Stephanie Holmes, "Breaking the Ice:  Emerging Legal Issues in Arctic Sovereignty," 9 Chi. J. Int'l L. 323 (2008)(HeinOnline).
• Eric Posner, "The New Race for the Arctic," The Faculty Blog, August 4, 2007 (originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2007, at p. A8).
• Nations Dispute 'Arctic Sovereignty', NPR Weekend Edition, August 11, 2007, 5:23. 
• "Who Owns the Arctic?," Environmental Law Prof Blog, September 19, 2007 (quotes Eric Posner).
• Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress (Ronald O'Rourke coord., CRS Report R41153, October 15, 2010)(brief summary of Arctic territorial claims and sovereignty issues from a U.S. perspective).
• Kathryn Isted, "Sovereignty in the Arctic:  An Analysis of Territorial Disputes & Environmental Policy Considerations," 18 J. Transnat'l L. & Pol'y 343 (2009)(HeinOnline).
• Michael Byers, Who Owns the Arctic?:  Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North (Douglas & McIntyre, 2009).