Real world game of Risk - Denmark and Canada duke it out over an island.

It's WAR! OK, well not really but it is an official dispute over a small uninhabited 1.3-square-kilometre pimple of a rock (barren knoll) in the middle of the Kennedy Channel.

The island is positioned smack dab in between the two countries and has been a political quagmire since 1880. British rule transferred the right to the British Arctic Territory to Canada at that time. Hans Island was not specifically outline in the transfer. Neither was countless other barren knolls.

The technicalities

The issue stems from the distance separating the two territories. The Island is in the middle of the 35Km wide straight. Under international laws countries extend control over territory in water that extends 22Km from shore. Hans Island happens to be within the 22Km zone for both countries.

The timeline

In 1933 pressure from Copenhagen brought the status of Hans Island to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ). The court ruled in favour of Denmark at that time. Case closed.

Well not really. The court was abolished later after World War II. It wasn't until the early 70's that Canada and Denmark finally came to an agreement on the demarcation of maritime borders in the Arctic. However, Hans Island fell through the cracks and was never resolved.

In 1984 the war heats up and is declared the 'whiskey war'. In 1984 the the Danish minister, to Greenland, conquered the island, single handed, and left a bottle of schnapps along with a sign proclamating ownership of the island stating "Welcome to the Danish Island."

Things came to a head in 2005 when Canadian Forces landed on the island. Canadian Forces erected an Inukshuk, a man-made stone landmark or cairn usually built by the Inuit as a landmark, and hoisted a Canadian flag. This seems to be where we are now. A combination of gesticulating and a carrying on with a sense of humour.

The "war" has has seen each side declare victory after consecutive landing. The two nations have resorted to dismantling each others flags pole and leaving a present for the next conqueror. The Danish leave a bottle of Schnapps and the Canadians leave some Canadian Whisky.

To our Danish friends - Skal, welcome to Canada.

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References:
- https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/04/04/bit-of-a-lark-canadian-miner-files-claim-on-disputed-arctic-island.html
- http://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2018/05/23/greenland-canada-hans-island-sea-boundary/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuksuk

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