Hans Island

Our Series on Tiny Disputes takes us to the Arctic, at the border between the Danish territory of Greenland and the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

The Island of Ellesmere, held by Canada, is separated from Greenland to the East by a long and narrow channel. While most of the islands and islets that dot the channel are unambiguously closer to the shore of one of the main lands, one of them, Hans Island, is exactly in the middle of the channel, the line of equidistance passing through it. Both parties could not agree on the status of the island when they demarked the maritime border in 1972.

Canada and Denmark are not exactly known as the most bellicose nations in the World, but issues of territorial sovereignty always raise national sentiment, and there have been anecdotal incidents over the years, one country raising its flag each time a party set foot on the barren rock -- the legend being that bottles of Aquavit and Rye were left for the next party to find.

Finally, in 2022, the countries decided to draw a terrestrial border over the island, which has thus become one of the shortest land borders in the World.