This article provides a brief overview of coastal State's continental shelf claims in the Arctic Ocean, including bilateral delimitation issues and the process so far concerning the setting of fixed outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Some historical aspects are inquired into, notably the international legal status of Arctic waters during the Third United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea, and its resultant, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. National legal claims to parts of the Arctic Ocean seabed are subsequently presented, while some legal-political aspects conclude that the challenges facing the Arctic coastal States today should be approached in light of international law, rather more so than attending to the general discourse would suggest.