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And it's time to bundle up ya'll because even though a heat wave is settling over the eastern part of the United States, our first story takes us to a cold archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
This is Franz Josef Land. It's part of Russia but the only people who live here are researchers and members of the Russian military, which has been upgrading its bases in the far north. Under the ice, the Arctic region is believed to be rich in resources like gas and minerals.
Some experts think huge reserves of oil and gas are located here. According to the United Nations Law of the Sea, countries with territory inside the Arctic Circle can freely make use of these resources within 200 miles of their coastlines. Russia currently controls more than 50 percent of the Arctic coastline.
For years, it's been working to expand the Arctic territory it has access to and to prevent other nations from taking what Russia sees as its own. To accomplish this, it's been building up its military here and increasing its presence in the waterways nearby. But what's being called a "Race to the Arctic" has created friction with other countries including the United States which don't want Russia to dominate everything that Arctic has to offer.
