Hans Island is just a desolate, kidney-shaped piece of rock in the Arctic. But for 49 years it has been the source of a rare territorial dispute for Canada, as it sits right in the middle of the international border between that country and Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark.
In recent decades, the dispute between Canada and Denmark has been fought in often erratic ways.
Ever since Canadian troops began visiting the island in 1984 to plant maple leaf flags and drop bottles of Canadian whiskey, Danes have been coming regularly to replace the Canadian items with schnapps and Danish flags. And cabinet ministers from both countries have arrived by helicopter to assert their nations’ competing claims and examine the rock they claimed to rule.
Now the end is in sight for this long-running and largely benign diplomatic standoff.
Canada and Denmark will sign an agreement on Tuesday that formally defines their Arctic marine border and settles the issue of Hans Island’s ownership. The island will be split with about 60 percent of the rock becoming Denmark and the rest Canada.
The country’s two foreign ministers pitted the peaceful and successful, if protracted, resolution of the dispute against the violence and turmoil of other territorial struggles, most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This is a strong signal at a time when we see major powers brutally violating fundamental international law, such as what Russia is doing in Ukraine,” said Jeppe Kofod, the Danish foreign minister.
“It was the kindest of all wars,” said Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister. “But if you look at what’s going on in the world right now, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we really wanted to give more momentum and renew our energy to make sure we would find a solution.”
The battle over a pointless piece of rock dates back to 1973, when Denmark and Canada ended talks over border and underwater rights, but failed to reach an agreement on Hans Island.
Oil and gas reserves lie in the 35-kilometer-wide Strait of Nares where Hans Island is located, which separates the two countries. But Michael Byers, a professor of international law at the University of British Columbia who studies Arctic sovereignty, said the wells are too deep and the area too full of icebergs to make offshore drilling likely.
“It would be extremely expensive oil,” Professor Byers said. “If in 10, 20 or 30 years we drill for oil at those depths and at that location; we will have lost the battle against climate change.”
Some issues of fishing rights were settled long ago by other international treaties.
But Ms Joly said the newly established sea border between Canada and Denmark, which she labeled the longest in the world, will set an important example for other nations as they deal with questions about the Arctic seabed and the resources it contains.
The ministers said reaching an agreement included talks between the two countries with Inuit living on both sides of the border who know the island as Tartupaluk. Mr Kofod said the agreement protects their cross-border hunting and fishing rights and also ensures that the new border will not hinder travel across Hans Island.
Since Canada and Denmark have long been allies and have friendly relations, why did it take so long to reach an agreement?
Part of the answer, Professor Byers said, is the slow pace of United Nations processes for resolving marine border issues governed by the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
But he also noted that highly publicized liquor drop-offs by troops from both countries typically preceded elections, suggesting some governments placed political value on delaying the dispute.
“It was just a way to instill a little bit of patriotic sentiment in a no-risk context,” said Professor Byers.
The deal marks the end of the whiskey war. On Tuesday, the two ministers exchanged bottles for the last time.