A complex collection of more than 1,800 separate islands forms the Canadian Archipelago and the Canadian Arctic Territory. 1 In recent history the Arctic has gained popular attention from governments both nationally and internationally. Rising global climate temperatures are responsible for longer, ice-free Arctic summers, higher levels of resource exploration and development, and reduced access difficulties in the Arctic. Canadian sovereignty over Arctic lands and islands is undisputed with the sole exception of Hans Island, a 1.3 square kilometer island claimed by Denmark.2 What is currently disputed is Canada's assertion of sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean. water from the Northwest Passage. The passage, which would facilitate international navigation through the Canadian Archipelago's sovereign island system, connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Its wider and deeper route would lead to the northwest passage from "Lancaster Sound through Barrow Straight to Viscount Melville Sound and then through M'Clure Straight and into the Beaufort Sea."3 Historically Arctic ice made this route impossible to cross, but rising temperatures are changing it. The Government of Canada considers the Northwest Passage to be located within Canadian inland waterways, and therefore falls under Canadian sovereign jurisdiction, subject to Canadian national laws. With the possibility of the passage becoming an international shipping route, many countries, including the United States, disagree with this statement. They suggest that the Northwest Passage should be an international law subject to international law and the doctrine of transit passage. ....pers on the new Welfare." The Future of the Arctic: A Key to Global Sustainability. No. 5 (2012): 1-5. Central Intelligence Agency, "Canada". Last modified 12 November 2013. Accessed November 27, 2013. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html.Government of Canada, “5. Planned Icebreaker Deployment." Last modified June 24, 2013. Accessed November 26, 2013. http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Icebreaking/Icebreaker-Requirements/Planned-Icebreaker-Deployment.The Government of Canada, “Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy.” Last modified June 3, 2013. Accessed November 27, 2013. http://www.international.gc.ca/arctic-United Nations, “United Nations and the Convention on the Law of the Sea: Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea." Accessed November 27, 2013. http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/UNCLOS-TOC.htm.