Arctic resources race The Arctic consists of multiple sub-regions: Russian Arctic, Canadian Arctic, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), Northern Alaska (USA), Svalbard(Norway), Iceland, Fennoscandia. In addition to these sub-regions, the Arctic Ocean and its multiple seas—Greenland Sea, Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chuckchi Sea, Beaufort Sea,etc.-- make the arctic a vast region with a variety of natural resources. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that undiscovered oil and gas reserves in the Arctic amount to 22% of the world's total, about 412 billion barrels of oil. A Brookings Institution summary reported: The first offshore oil platform in the Arctic was Prirazlomnaya in
South Seas South Seas The term South Seas commonly refers to the South Pacific. Geographically, all areas to the south of Panama's degree of latitude belong to the South Sea. Central archipelagos are the Society Islands (French Polynesia/Tahiti), the Samoa-archipelago and the Fiji islands. The term South Sea is often used synonymously for Oceania and in a narrow sense for Polynesia (Polynesian Triangle). The Hawaii islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa) and the Easter Island ("Rapa Nui") build the vertices. The Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term "South Sea" when he traveled through the isthmus of Panama and named the ocean