Canada, Denmark make peace in ‘Whisky War’ – Nunatsiaq News

Jun 14, 2022

Canada and Denmark made peace in the so-called ‘Whisky War’ —a 50-year dispute over the Arctic island of Tartapaluk, also known as Hans Island, with each country agreeing to a half of the land.

“It brings a lot of clarity,” Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said at a signing ceremony Tuesday in Ottawa.

The two countries have both laid claim to the 1.3 square-kilometre rock island located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland in an Arctic sea passage.

The dispute has been dubbed the ‘Whisky War’ after a tradition in which Canadian and Danish military personnel removed each other’s flag whenever they visited the island, and placed a bottle of an alcohol for the next time the other country visits. The longstanding tradition had Canadians leave whisky while the Danish lefts schnapps.

Read More: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/canada-denmark-make-peace-in-whisky-war/