United States of America v. State of Alaska

Abstract

Sea — Territorial sea — Submerged lands — Sovereignty over submerged lands along Alaska’s Arctic Coast — United States and State of Alaska claiming ownership — Submerged lands rich in oil — Right to offer lands for mineral leasing — Whether Alaska entitled to submerged lands along its Arctic Coast — Applicability of normal baseline principles under Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 1958 — Islands — Definition — Requirement that land be above water at mean high tide — Whether small gravel and ice formation known as Dinkum Sands constituting an island — Federally reserved lands — Whether submerged lands within National Petroleum Reserve and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge passing to Alaska at statehood — The law of the United States