What Is Whisky War? – Burning Issues

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Canada and Denmark agreed in 1973 to create a border through Nares Strait, halfway between Greenland and Canada.
But they were unable to agree which country would have sovereignty over Hans Island, which lies about 680 miles south of the North Pole.
In the end, they decided to work out the question of ownership later. However, what followed in future years was a territorial dispute nicknamed the “whisky war” by media which raised its head multiple times.

Since 1971 itself, both countries have been “fighting” the “Whisky Wars” to settle competing claims over Hans Island.
Please note, whisky war is not a confrontational situation but in successive expeditions from Ottawa and Copenhagen who braved icy conditions to reach Hans Island would hoist respective flags and plant bottles of alcohol on the tiny 1.2 sq km rock.
Also note that, the islet has no known mineral reserves of value.

In 1984, Denmark’s minister of Greenland affairs raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of Danish schnapps at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying, “Welcome to the Danish island.”
Later, Canadians then planted their own flag and left a bottle of Canadian brandy.
In 2002, Nana Flensburg who was part of a Danish military crew that stood on the cliff to perform a flag-raising ceremony said that among the stones in the cairns on island were lots of bottles, glasses, etc. with documents that informed about previous visits to the island.

Although both countries have sent warships to the island but there was never any risk of a shooting war.
Both sides resolved to settle the problem peacefully and talks began in 2005 which have been finalized and the boundary has been demarcated in 2022.
The foreign ministers of two countries exchanged bottles of whiskey symbolically.
Note: The boundary will be demarcated once both nations parliaments ratify the agreement.

The Hans Island (Whisky War) dispute between which countries?
- Denmark & Canada
Which strait divides Canada & Denmark?
- Nares Strait
Canada shares land boundary with how many countries now?
- Two – USA & Denmark
Canada & Denmark resolving their boundary dispute is a good example for supporting the Democratic Peace Theory by Michael W Doyle.