The Arctic has been the focus of considerable attention over the past 10–15 years, often in connection with the alleged ‘race’ for the region’s natural resources. This article focuses on the extension of sovereign rights beyond 200 nm in the Arctic Ocean – in particular, the criteria and procedures for delineating the continental shelf under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the most recent developments in state practice. As coastal states continue to update their shelf submissions before the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), there would to be little, if any, international seabed area left in the central Arctic Ocean.