The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic nations are all members of the Arctic Council, as are organizations representing six indigenous populations. The Council operates on consensus basis, mostly dealing with environmental treaties and not addressing boundary or resource disputes. Though Arctic policy priorities differ, every Arctic nation is concerned about sovereignty/security, resource development, shipping routes, and environmental protection (climate change). Much work remains on regulatory agreements regarding shipping, tourism, and resource development in Arctic waters. Scientific research in the Arctic has long been a collaborative international effort.

Unlike Antarctica, a continent surrounded by the Southern Ocean, the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. For this reason, it is governed in large part by the law of the sea, a body of unwritten but nevertheless binding rules of customary international law which were codified into the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Territorial disputes are absent in the Arctic, but, there are several existing or potential disputes over maritime boundaries and possible international straits that will likely become more important due to climate change, rising prices for natural resources, and new security concerns. As the Arctic is in crisis, international law has an important role to play, now and in the future.

Antarctica is Earth's fifth-largest and southernmost continent. It is located in the Antarctic region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. It has no human population of its own, except for some permanent manned scientific research stations. Seven sovereign states have claimed sectors of land in Antarctica, but none of these claims have been recognized by other countries. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington to establish Antarctica as a region of peace and cooperation, and to deal with issues relating to claims of sovereignty. Its primary purpose is to ensure “in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord”. The Treaty is at the core of a number of related agreements which, together with the measures taken under the Antarctic Treaty and related agreements are often called the Antarctic Treaty system.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for legal research on the Polar Regions. It provides the basic materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library's systematic classification → Polar regions in general and subject headings (keywords), Polar regions, Arctic, Antarctica and Antarctic Treaty (Washington, D.C., 1 December 1959) are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

The Peace Palace Library has a collection of over a million publications. Each week, about six hundred new titles are added to our collection: books, articles, documents, online publications, etc. On this page, access is provided to this week's new titles on the Polar Regions. It covers a wide variety of topics relating to the Arctic, the Antarctic, Spitsbergen and Greenland. These include: regional and international governance issues, peace and security, dispute settlement, climate change, environmental protection, territorial claims and border disputes, law of the sea, exploration, exploitation of oil, gas and minerals, maritime navigation, and human rights issues, such as autonomy and self-determination, the rights of indigenous peoples to land and natural resources, their cultural rights and cultural heritage.

Subscription-based

• Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Antarctica, by Silja Vöneky and Sange Addison-Agyei. The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) is a comprehensive online resource containing over 1600 peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of public international law. It has been re-designed to improve the look and feel of the site, and the search functionality. Written and edited by an incomparable team of over 800 scholars and practitioners, published in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and updated throughout the year. All included articles are peer-reviewed and treat international law from a global/regional perspective. This major reference work is essential for anyone researching or teaching international law.

Free Access

• Antarctic Treaty Database (Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty)
  In this database you can find the text of measures adopted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (including all recommendations, measures, decisions and resolutions) from 1961 to now together with their attachments and information on their legal status. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the texts in the database, only the text of the printed version of the Final Report of the ATCM is the authentic text. You can find photographic copies of the printed version under “Final Reports” below.  The data contained in this database on Parties to the Treaty and the Environment Protocol and on the approval of Recommendations and Measures derive from the official data maintained by the United States State Department as Depositary of the Antarctic Treaty.

• Final Reports (Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty)
  Most of Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Final Reports are now available in .PDF format for browsing or downloading.

• Meeting Documents (Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty)
  This database gives access to the available material presented to the ATCM as Working Papers, Information Papers and Secretariat Papers.

• Documentation Centre (Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty)
  The Documentation Centre provides an online catalogue of the publications in the Secretariat´s library and a digital set of documents concerning Antarctic legislation, policy and programmes.

Arctic

• Arctic Centre

The Arctic Centre is a national and international hub of information and centre of excellence which conducts multidisciplinary research in changes in the Arctic region. It is located in the Arktikum House, Rovaniemi, Finland.

Antarctic

• Antarctic Treaty Papers
• Antarctic Treaty Secretariat
• Australian Antarctic Division
• British Antarctic Survey
• Polar Law Institute

Systematic classification → Polar Regions

• General
• Arctic
• Antarctica
• Greenland
• Spitsbergen