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

TOKYO. April 29. KAZINFORM  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.

With the recommendation, Japan would have priority over the development of seabed resources in the areas near Okinotori Island, the southernmost point of its territory located around 1,700 km south of central Tokyo, Kyodo reports.

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