Those Imperialistic Danes

(And Canadians and Russians too)

These guys want the North Pole!

Original Source
Denmark - Denmark is joining Russia and Canada to see if it can lay a claim to the North Pole � and whatever natural riches may lie beneath it.

The key to Denmark's claim is Greenland, the world's largest island and a semi-independent Danish territory, just 500 miles south of the North Pole. Researchers hope to find evidence that Greenland may be connected to a huge ridge beneath the floating Arctic ice, the country's science and technology minister said.

If high-tech measurements can prove that Greenland is attached to the 1,240 mile underwater Lomonosov Ridge, then "maybe there is a chance that the North Pole could become Danish," Cabinet minister Helge Sander said Friday.

This is probably a lot more important to these nations then it would seem on it's face. There could be a lot of resources under there. Whatever happens here should be interesting.

They're putting a lot of money into this. The Danes are spending $25 million and the Canadians $55.4 million to map the sea bed of the Arctic Ocean.

Note: The title is a joke.

Oh. Yes. Because it is so damn practical to mine in the north.

If it was, Canada would be the richest nation on the face of the earth, and Russia not far behind it. Really, the arctic is largely useless. Shockingly so, in fact, because it's all permafrost and ice.

DE