U.S. Expands its Horizons: How New Claims Have Boosted Country's Landmass by 400,000 Square Miles

Last year, the U.S. experienced a 'growth spurt' and expanded by nearly 400,000 square miles in size, IFL Science reported. This expansion was a result of the U.S. claiming some of its surrounding ocean-floor territory.

Continental shelves are defined as areas around large landmasses where the depth of the sea is relatively shallow compared to open oceans. As per international laws, countries around these shelves can claim them. This is an interesting proposition for governments who want to exploit the resources contained in these shelves.

On December 19, 2023, the U.S. State Department announced new geographic coordinates, which incorporated what they claim to be their Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) area, IFL Science reported. The U.S. State Department collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Geological Survey, and 12 other agencies to define the outer limits.

The determination of the outer limits required information related to the seabed and the shape, depth, and geophysical characteristics of the subsoil, Science Times reported. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collected and analyzed the data.

The process of data collection started in 2003 and became the most massive offshore mapping effort that the U.S. has ever conducted.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) included the extended continental shelf (ECS), of six regions to their overall landmass. These regions are reportedly the Atlantic (east coast), Arctic, Pacific (west coast), Bering Sea, Mariana Islands, and two areas within the Gulf of Mexico.

In total, the U.S. is now one million square kilometers (more than 386,000 square miles) in size, IFL Science reported.

"America is larger than it was yesterday," Mead Treadwell, a former Alaska lieutenant governor and former chair of the US Arctic Research Commission, shared.

"It’s not quite the Louisiana Purchase. It’s not quite the purchase of Alaska, but the new area of land and subsurface resources under the land controlled by the United States is two Californias larger," he added.

Many researchers think that the expansion of ocean territories has the potential to bring profits through mining, shipping, and fishing, IFL Science reported.

Brian Van Pay, the project director of the State Department, stated that the only country the U.S. authorities might have to enter future negotiations with is Canada, because of the latter's overlapping claim on certain regions, Science Times reported. 

Certain experts also believe that the extension of outer limits might invite a spat with China and its neighbors, like the Philippines and Vietnam, over claims to the South China Sea, IFL Science reported.