Hans Island is a barren, uninhabited rock off the northwest coast of Greenland. However, for 49 years, Denmark and Canada have claimed ownership of the 1.3-square-kilometer (1973-square-mile) islet. For decades, politicians from each country have periodically visited the windswept island, planting a flag to mark their territory. Who owns Hans Island? In XNUMX, Canada and Denmark agreed to establish a border across the Nares Strait, halfway between the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island.
But they were unable to agree on which country would have sovereignty over Hans Island, a windswept rock about 1,100 kilometers south of the North Pole.
Nearly half a century after the initial agreement was postponed, the two countries have finally resolved the ownership issue. Under a new agreement, the small island will be divided in half. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said the agreement sends a clear signal that it is possible to resolve border disputes in a pragmatic and peaceful way, where all parties win. He described the agreement as “an important signal now that there is so much war and turmoil in the world.”