The United States Added 400,000 Square Miles to Its Landmass
In December 2023, the United States quietly added 385,000 square miles to its landmass – that’s twice the size of Spain. But the US didn’t have to lift a finger, win a war, or even pay a dime to gain this extra land.
Source: iStock
The government was able to add such an immense amount of land to its already enormous territory by simply declaring to the world it would be so.
The New Landmass Is Made up of ECS
The new territory wasn’t stolen, won, or bought from another nation because it was no one’s to begin with. The land in question is underwater, known as the extended continental shelf or the ECS.
Source: State Department
ECSs can be found all over the planet along the coastlines, but unlike continental shelves, they don’t automatically belong to the country they’re next to.
What Is a Continental Shelf?
A continental shelf is the seabed and subsoil that lies under the ocean on the edge of a continent.
Source: Britannica
Continental shelves typically extend between 200 and 350 feet from the shoreline into the ocean, though some are much shorter, at around 50 miles, and others can reach up to 1,000 miles wide. After that, the sea drops off, and the land is just considered the seafloor.
Every Country With a Coastline Has Continental Shelves
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), “Coastal countries have exclusive rights to resources located within the continental shelf, which legally is defined as the seabed up to roughly 200 nautical miles from shore.”
Source: Freepik
So, technically, every nation with a coastline has continental shelves to use as they please. However, only the first 200 miles are automatically considered national territory; if countries want more, they must claim it.
What Is an Extended Continental Shelf?
An extended continental shelf is the area of the naturally forming continental shelf past the 200-mile mark. According to the law, countries can actually claim up to 350 nautical miles offshore, but only if the seabed hasn’t officially started by that point.
Source: Quora
However, in order for a country to call this extended territory its own, it must collect and analyze all data to prove the seabed doesn’t begin until after 350 miles.
The US Has Officially Claimed 385,000 Square Miles of ESC
This is precisely what the United States has recently done after more than 20 years of extensive research and data collection among over 12 organizations.
Source: US ECS
Finally, the US has claimed 385,000 square miles of extended continental shelf in addition to the continental shelf it was automatically granted.
Why Is the Extended Continental Shelf so Important to the US?
As Mead Treadwell, a former Alaska lieutenant governor and former chair of the US Arctic Research Commission, said, “America is larger than it was yesterday.”
Source: Shutterstock
But you may be asking yourself: Why did the federal government work for more than two decades, paying more than a dozen organizations, to obtain this seemingly useless underwater land?
What Do Continental Shelves Have to Offer?
Continental shelves offer several benefits to countries worldwide, including extensive fisheries, metallic ore, and hydrocarbons. However, none are as valuable as the oil and gas they provide.
Source: iStock
More than 30% of the oil and 20% of the gas produced in the United States are collected from the nation’s continental shelves—and that was before it gained an additional 385,000 square miles.
How Much Does the US Make on Continental Shelf Oil and Gas?
According to the US Department of the Interior, almost 11 billion barrels of oil and more than 116 trillion cubic feet of gas have been collected on the existing continental shelves since 1982.
Source: Freepik
Those numbers are expected to grow over the coming years once they can start drilling on the extended continental shelf. The US already makes more than $332.9 billion annually on gas and oil. How much will the government make now? It’s too soon to say, but it’s certainly a lot.
The Negative Side Effects of the New US Territory
While this all seems very exciting, especially financially, there are many adverse side effects to the United States’ claim of the nearly 400,000 square miles of extended continental shelf.
Source: Freepik
First and foremost, another 400,000 square miles of previously untouched ocean will now be drilled for fossil fuels. Which we all know is bad news for the oceans and the planet as a whole.
The US Is Exasperating Climate Change
America may be larger than it was yesterday, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better off.
Source: Freepik
Climate change is already affecting millions of Americans on a daily basis, and if we continue to drill as much of the ocean as we possibly can, those side effects are only going to get worse.