Russia says it has submitted to the United Nations a bid for vast territories in the Arctic Ocean.

The Foreign Ministry said on August 4 that Moscow is claiming 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic sea shelf.

Russia, the United States, Norway, Denmark, and Canada have all attempted to assert their jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic Ocean, which is thought to hold much of the Earth's undiscovered energy resources.

Russia first submitted such a claim in 2002, but the UN returned it due to a lack of evidence.

Moscow's latest bid reportedly contains much more data.

Russia made a symbolic claim to the Arctic seabed in 2007 when one of its submarines dropped a canister containing a Russian flag onto the ocean floor near the North Pole.

Based on reporting by AP and Interfax