US Grew By Over 6 Lakh Square Kms Last Month; Know How

The fourth largest country by land area, the United States, quietly grew about 6.2 lakh square kilometres after the latest modification in the extended continental shelf by the Department of State (DOS) of the country, last month. Metro, a US-based media outlet, reported that the Department of State (DOS) included submerged offshore areas, referred to as the extended continental shelf (ECS), from six regions, thereby expanding the overall landmass of the country.

The Exclusive Continental Shelf (ECS) refers to the landmass region situated in shallow waters beyond 200 nautical miles. In the United States, the most extensive ECS area is located in the Arctic, spanning 350 miles (612 km) to the north and exceeding 680 miles (1,094 km) in the western region, as reported by the outlet.

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The ECS is a vital maritime area that hosts biological ecosystems and natural resources. USDS also mentioned that the United States has six ECSs - The Atlantic east coast, the Pacific west coast, the Bering Sea, the Mariana Islands and two portions of the Gulf of Mexico.

"Like other countries, the United States has rights under international law to conserve and manage the resources and vital habitats on and under its ECS," the State Department said.

(Anatomy of a continental shelf of the southeastern coast of the United States; Image Credit-Wikipedia)

Interestingly, the land area included by the USDS in the overall area is even greater than the Ukraine, and almost twice the size of Spain, NDTV reported.

Experts suggest that this extension in the area will have major implications in securing the rights of the US in the Arctic region.

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"It has long been clear that the United States has major economic interests in undersea territory rich in oil, natural gas, minerals and sea life to which it has sovereign rights under the law of the sea as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention," Wilson Centre, a think tank based in Washington, DC, was quoted as saying by Metro.

The Wilson Centre also said that the United States possesses the most extensive exclusive economic zone globally, aiding in the protection of its sovereign rights over submerged areas.