{{short description|Aspect of International law on territorial claims}} [[File:Antarctica, territorial claims.svg|thumb|The Antarctic territorial claims are divided into sectors, in accordance with the sector principle.]] thumb|Boundary in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia, settled in 2010. The '''sector principle''', also known as the '''sector theory''',<ref name="Head1963">{{Cite journal |last=Head |first=Ivan L. |year=1963 |title=Canadian Claims to Territorial Sovereignty in the Arctic Regions |url=https://lawjournal.mcgill.ca/wp-content/uploads/pdf/131472-head.pdf |journal=McGill Law Journal |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=203}}</ref> is a principle in international law which asserts that territorial claims in the polar regions shall be determined by longitude lines. The territories are thus divided into wedge-shaped sectors, each one having their apex at the geographical pole with their base extending down to an arbitrary latitude. The sector principle has historically constituted the basis on which territorial claims in the Arctic have been made,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mayhew |first1=Susan |title=A Dictionary of Geography |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-280034-5 |edition=2nd |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofgeog0000mayh}}</ref> although its usage has failed to gain universal international recognition.<ref name="Barr1995">{{Cite book |last=Barr |first=Susan |url=https://brage.npolar.no/npolar-xmlui/handle/11250/196350 |title=Franz Josef Land |publisher=Norsk Polarinstitutt |year=1995 |isbn=82-7666-095-9 |location=Oslo |pages=95 |doi=10.1017/S0032247400067607}}</ref>
The principle is today more or less abandoned;<ref name="NE">{{Cite web |title=Sektorsprincipen |url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/lång/sektorsprincipen |url-access=registration |website=Nationalencyklopedin |publisher= |language=sv}}</ref> Canada stopped referring to it in 2006 and the 2010 boundary negotiation in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia contains no mention of the sector principle.<ref name="HenriksenSNL">{{Cite web |last=Henriksen |first=Tore |date= |title=Sektorprinsippet |url=https://snl.no/sektorprinsippet |website=Store Norske Leksikon |language=no}}</ref> It has arguably seen a broader implementation in Antarctica, whose territorial claims are divided into sectors. This division is, however, not seen as an extension of any particular state's territory due to the large bodies of water separating the continent from other land masses.<ref name="NE" />
== Arctic == The principle was first proposed in 1907 by Canadian senator Pascal Poirier. He was delivering a speech in support of his own motion which sought to claim possession of the Arctic Archipelago on Canada's behalf. Poirier's motion was originally dismissed, and his Sector theory deemed a "one-man idea". The principle would however gain immense traction in subsequent years.<ref name="Head1963" /> In 1925, Canada became the first nation to extend their maritime boundary to the North Pole, using the sector principle as justification for doing so. The claim is not universally recognized.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKitterick |first=T.E.M. |year=1939 |title=The Validity of Territorial and Other Claims in Polar Regions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/754556 |journal=Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law |volume=21 |issue=1 |jstor=754556}}</ref>
In 1926, the Soviet Union followed the example set by Canada, declaring all land and water located between the North Pole and their mainland to be Soviet territory. The Soviet sector stretched from the Barents Sea in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, and from there to the pole.<ref name="HenriksenSNL" /> Norway objected vehemently to the Soviet claim on Franz Josef Land, an archipelago north of Soviet territory close to the sector boundary between the two countries.<ref name="Barr1995" />
The remaining nations with a coast on the Arctic Ocean, namely the United States (Alaska), Denmark (Greenland) and Norway, do not uphold the sector principle and regard its usage in the Arctic to be unlawful.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conforti |first=Benedetto |year=1986 |title=Territorial Claims in Antarctica: A Modern Way to Deal with an Old Problem |url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163&context=cilj |journal=Cornell International Law Journal |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=253–254}}</ref>
== Antarctica == It is uncertain if the sector principle is applicable in Antarctica, since large bodies of water separate the continent from any other land mass. Territorial claims around the South Pole are therefore not based on the idea of an extension of any particular nation-state, as is the case with the North Pole.<ref name="NE" /> Nevertheless, Chile and Argentina have both made attempts to invoke the sector principle. Today, all Antarctic claims are modeled as sectors, even though the United States and others have opposed it. The dispute is still not resolved, but following the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, further discussion was halted.<ref name="HenriksenSNL" />
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
Category:Territorial claims in Antarctica Category:Territorial disputes of Russia Category:Territorial disputes of Norway Category:Territorial disputes of Canada