U.N. OKs Japan's claim to extend continental shelf in Pacific

The U.N. commission on seabed claims has adopted a recommendation allowing Japan to extend its continental shelf areas in the western Pacific, government officials said Saturday. The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has recognized around 310,000 square kilometers as part of Japan's continental shelf, equivalent to about 82 percent of the country's total land area, the officials said. (Mainichi)