Denmark, Canada to sign deal ending dispute over tiny Arctic isle

The 2 pleasant nations conform to divide a barren and uninhabited rock between them, ending 49 years of dispute.

A bunch of Danish troopers with their flag stand on the Hans Island between Greenland and Canada [File: Royal Danish Navy/SCANPIX/AFP]

A territorial dispute between Denmark and Canada over a barren and uninhabited rock within the Arctic has come to an finish, with the 2 pleasant nations agreeing to divide the tiny island between them.

Underneath the settlement, to be signed on Tuesday, a border will likely be drawn throughout the 1.3 sq. kilometres (0.5 sq. miles) Hans Island, within the waterway between the northwestern coast of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island. The rock has no mineral reserves.

“It sends a transparent sign that it's doable to resolve border disputes … in a realistic and peaceable means, the place the all events develop into winners,” mentioned Danish International Minister Jeppe Kofod.

He mentioned it was “an necessary sign now that there's a lot conflict and unrest on the planet”.

Canada and Denmark agreed in 1973 to create a border by Nares Strait, midway between Greenland and Canada. However they had been unable to agree on which nation would have sovereignty over Hans Island, which lies about 1,100km (684 miles) south of the North Pole.

In the long run, they determined to work out the query of possession later.

Within the following years, the territorial dispute – nicknamed the “whisky conflict” by the media – raised its head a number of occasions.

Flags, drinks

In 1984, Denmark’s minister of Greenland affairs raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of Danish schnapps on the base of the flagpole and left a word saying: “Welcome to the Danish island.”

Canadians then planted their very own flag and left a bottle of Canadian brandy.

Since then, the nations have, in turns, hoisted their flags and left bottles of varied spirits in tit-for-tat strikes.

In 2002, Nana Flensburg was a part of a Danish army crew that stood on the cliff to carry out a flag-raising ceremony.

The Politiken newspaper on Tuesday quoted her as saying in her diary that “among the many stones within the cairns had been numerous bottles, glasses, and so forth. with paperwork that knowledgeable about earlier visits to the island”.

The settlement enters into pressure after the 2 nations’ inside procedures have been accomplished. In Denmark, the Parliament should first give its consent to the settlement.