The countries that decide the fate of Antarctica's waters reached a historic agreement Friday to create the world's largest marine protected area in the ocean by the frozen continent. The agreement comes after years of diplomatic wrangling and talks between the U.S. and Russia, which has rejected the idea in the past.

The U.S. and New Zealand have been pushing for a marine reserve for years. They first submitted a joint proposal in 2012, but it was rejected five times before Friday's agreement.

The marine protected area covers 1.6 million square kilometers.

The agreement will take effect from December 2017, and, for most of the reserve, will last an initial 35 years.

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