Arctic Circle and North Pole become new disputed territories Making a claim ... A torch marking a Soviet-era settlement in Barentsburg, part of the Svalbard archipelago, which is administered by Norway. Picture: Reuben Wu Source: Supplied THE Arctic Circle may be Santa's home, but it is set to become the world's new disputed territory, with different nations seeking to exploit the region for a range of economic and military purposes. The tensions in the Arctic were highlighted earlier this month when Canada staked a claim over the North Pole with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. In response, Vladimir Putin promptly called for the building up of a Russian military presence in the area. A case of "Blame Canada?" But Russia and Canada are not the only nations cognisant of the untapped oil and gas reserves in the north - Norway, Denmark (as the custodian of Greenland) and the US also have claims on arctic territory. The anticipated breaking up of the polar ice cap due to global warming is also set to intensify the human presence in the area, as new shipping routes open up. After Canada filed its claim over the North Pole in early December, Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, told the parliament that the claim was in part a way of defending the country's northern extremes. Frozen north ... Ranger Joe Amarualik, from Iqaluit, Nunavut, drives his snowmobile during a Canadian Ranger sovereignty patrol near Eureka, on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Picture: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh Source: AP We know that the (opposition) Liberals do not think that the North Pole or Santa Claus are in Canada. We do. We are going to make sure that we protect them as best we can," Calandra said. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau agreed, saying: "Everyone knows that Santa Claus is Canadian. "His postal code is H0H 0H0," he said, alluding to a mailing address assigned to Santa by Canada Post. The postal service responds each year to tens of thousands of children's letters from around the world addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada. The main opposition New Democratic Party, however, insisted that "Santa Claus is a citizen of the world." The seemingly trivial exchange over Santa's nationality masks a more serious reality about territorial claims to the Arctic. Russia has an overlapping claim to both the North Pole and large parts of the Arctic that are believed to include vast oil and natural gas reserves. A government-sponsored diving team in 2007 planted a Russian flag on the seabed under the North Pole and the Kremlin has long mulled plans to deploy a large military presence in the region. Arctic manoeuvres ... Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during an expanded defence ministry meeting in Moscow on December 10. Upon hearing of the Canadian claim, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's military to step up its presence in the Arctic. "I would like you to devote special attention to deploying infrastructure and military units in the Arctic," the Kremlin chief told an expanded defence ministry in televised remarks. Russia must possess "all the levers necessary for protecting its security and national interests" in the area, he said. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that his directives would be strictly followed and implemented on time. Putin said Russia was "ever more actively reclaiming this promising region, returning to it" after a brief absence that followed the Soviet Union's collapse. "In 2014, we intend to create military units and forces for ensuring the military security and protecting the national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic," Shoigu said. The plans outlined by Putin particularly concerned establishing new air bases or expanding existing ones in the Arctic Siberian town of Tiksi and the north-western naval port of Severomorsk. Putin added that Russia also intended to restore a Soviet-era military base on the New Siberian Islands in the extreme north of eastern Siberia. Independent military analyst Alexander Golts said Putin's orders reflected a "return to a Cold War mentality" in which Moscow viewed the Arctic as a battlefield with specific winners and losers. "The rumour is that they want to deploy an air defence system on the New Siberian Islands," Golts told AFP. Nuclear threat revisited ... A file photo from 1999 showing a Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile launching from the northern Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia. Dmitry Rogozin says Moscow has reserved the right to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional strike. Picture: AP Photo/Str Source: AP The rest of the bases appear to be intended for various (military) jets. Russia is also completing the development of a state program for tapping hard-to-reach Arctic energy riches over the coming two decades with the help of such multinational giants as ExxonMobil. The Ernst and Young consultancy noted in a recent report that Russia was also "preparing an application to extend its borders over 1.2 million square kilometres (465,000 square miles) of Arctic waters." Ernst and Young said it expected Putin's team to file its application with the United Nations by the end of 2013. Some analysts link the claim to Kremlin expectations of continued global warming and the gradual retreat of thick ice from both promising energy deposits and shipping lanes. The Kremlin in particular appears eager to control the so-called Northern Sea Route that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans along Russia's northern coast. Military minded ... Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service Source: AP "But that leads us into direct conflict with the United States because it backs an 'open seas' policy in international waters," said military affairs writer Pavel Felgenhauer. "The US navy will be ready to defend these (free passage) rights," the analyst said. The seriousness of the Arctic territorial dispute was highlighted in recent remarks made by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who said Russia reserved the right to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional strike. This came a day after Putin's pledge to expand Russia's military presence in the Arctic region. Putin has pointed at the U.S. navy presence in the Arctic Ocean one of the reasons behind the build-up, saying that Russia is concerned because it takes U.S. missiles just 15 to 16 minutes to reach Moscow from a submarine in the Barents Sea. Without naming the U.S., Rogozin told lawmakers in comments carried by Russian news agencies said that those who "experiment with non-nuclear strategic weapons" should remember that "if we come under attack, we will undoubtedly use nuclear weapons in certain situations to defend our territory and state interests."