Hans Island
Encyclopedia
Hans Island is a small, uninhabited barren knoll measuring 1.3 km² (0.501932806170296 sq mi), located in the centre of the Kennedy Channel
of Nares Strait
—the strait that separates Ellesmere Island
from northern Greenland
and connects Baffin Bay
with the Lincoln Sea
. Hans Island is the smallest of three islands located in Kennedy Channel; the others are Franklin Island
and Crozier Island
. The island has been part of Inuit
hunting grounds since long before people of European descent became aware of its existence.
The island is claimed by both Canada
and Denmark
.
(sometimes called Heindrich), whose native name was Suersaq. Hendrik was a Greenlandic Arctic traveller and translator who worked on the American and British Arctic expeditions of Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Francis Hall
, Isaac Israel Hayes
and George Strong Nares
, from 1853 to 1876.
The island was probably named sometime between 1871 and 1873 during Charles Francis Hall's third North Pole expedition. The first written reference to the name, and indeed to the island at all, appears in Charles Henry Davis
's book Narrative of the North Polar expedition (1876), which is a narrative of Hall's third North Pole expedition. On page 407 it suddenly appears, without any previous introduction; a map accompanying the book is where the island made its first cartographic appearance. Charles Henry Davis writes,
This writing is about the ship Polaris's return voyage south down the Kennedy channel. It does not give any answer to when it was named; however, the ship doctor and leader of the scientific part of the expedition, Emil Bessels
, wrote his own book, Die amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition (1879 in German). He mentions on page 124 that on August 29, 1871, on the voyage up north through Kennedy Channel, the ship sailed between Grinnell-land (Ellesmere Island) and an unknown little island which they would later name Hans Island, after Hans Hendrik, the native Greenlandic helper.
, 28 July 2005.
Littleton Island
(Greenlandic: Pikiuleq) is approximately 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) from Greenland’s coast right in Smith Sound. It is about 300 kilometre south of the island today called Hans Island. Around it and the coast of Greenland lay dozens of tiny Islands, and Kane names one of them Hans Island after Hans Hendrik, the native Greenlandic helper he had with him on the trip. That this is the current Littleton Island is testified by Kane mentioning Edward Augustus Inglefield
, who indeed named Littleton Island.
living in Northern Greenland or Canada had likely crossed this area for centuries. Up to the early 19th century, the northern area of Greenland and Canada remained completely unexplored by Europeans.
From 1850 to 1880, the area in which Hans Island is situated was explored by American and British expeditions. These expeditions were a response partly due to the popular search for the missing British explorer John Franklin
, and partly to search for the elusive Northwest Passage
and/or reach the North Pole
.
The Danish "Celebration Expedition" of 1920 to 1923 accurately mapped the whole region of the Northern Greenland coast from Cape York
(Kap York) to Denmark Sound
(Danmark fjord).
In 1933, the Permanent Court of International Justice
declared the legal status of Greenland in favour of Denmark. Denmark claims that geological evidence points to Hans Island being part of Greenland, and therefore that it belongs to Denmark by extension of the Court's ruling.
Since the 1960s, numerous surveys have been undertaken in the Nares Strait region, including seismic, ice flow, mapping, archeological and economic surveys. Canadian-based Dome Petroleum
Ltd. made surveys on and around Hans Island from 1980 to 1983, to investigate the movement of ice masses.
and Danish personnel working in the Nares Strait determined the geographic coordinates for Hans Island. During negotiations between Canada and Denmark on Northern maritime boundaries
in 1973, Canada claimed that Hans Island was part of its territory. No agreement was reached between the two governments on the issue.
The border is established in the delimitation
treaty about the continental shelf
between Greenland and Canada, ratified by the United Nations
on December 17, 1973, and in force since March 13, 1974. At that time, it was the longest shelf boundary treaty ever negotiated and may have been the first ever continental shelf boundary developed by a computer program
.
The treaty lists 127 points (latitude
and longitude
) from Davis Strait
to the end of Robeson Channel
, where Nares Strait runs into Lincoln Sea
, to draw geodesic
lines between, to form the border. The treaty does not, however, draw a line from point 122 (80° 49' 2 - 66° 29' 0) to point 123 (80° 49' 8 - 66° 26' 3), a distance of 875 m (2,870.7 ft). Hans Island is situated in the centre of this area.
, a historian from Iqaluit, Nunavut
, wrote an article about Hans Island which was published in the local newspaper Hainang, in Qaanaaq
(Thule) in northwestern Greenland. This article was picked up by a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen
, and by CBC Radio
in Canada, which gave Hans Island its first fleeting publicity.
This article was sparked because of a chance encounter on the ice near Resolute, Nunavut
, in the Canadian Arctic in the autumn of 1983. According to Kenn Harper he met a man wearing a hat with bold letters around the side of the hat saying "HANS ISLAND, N.W.T.". This man was a scientist with Dome Petroleum
who had just spent the summer on the island doing ice research. Dome Petroleum did research on and around the island from 1980 to 1983.
Simultaneously, the Danish and Canadian governments were in the process of signing a cooperation agreement in relation to the marine environment in Nares Strait. The agreement was signed and put into force on August 26, 1983. (The treaty was extended even further in 1991.)
One of the items also discussed was the possibility of establishing a reciprocal arrangement for processing applications to conduct research on and around Hans Island. This was never signed; however, Canadian John Munro, at that time Minister for Northern Affairs and Development, and Danish Tom Høyem
, at that time Minister for Greenland
, agreed, in common interest, to avoid acts that might prejudice future negotiations.
However, unknown to the politicians, Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the island. According to Kenn Harper, the Canadian Department of External Affairs conducting these negotiations with the Danes might not even have been aware that Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the island. Kenn Harper claims that in 1984 a senior official of Energy Mines and Resources, Canada, wrote him, saying, "To my knowledge the Department of Energy, Mines & Resources did not confer with the Department of External Affairs over the use of the island by Dome Petroleum."
When Kenn Harper’s article of 1984, mentioning Dome Petroleum and Hans Island, found its way to the Danish newspapers, it is not difficult to see why Tom Høyem in 1984 chartered a helicopter from Greenland and went to Hans Island. It might indeed have been something so simple as a misunderstanding and breach in communications.
In 1984, the Danish Minister for Greenland
planted the Danish flag on the Island and left a little message saying "Velkommen til den danske ø" (Welcome to the Danish Island). It is also said he left a bottle of cognac.
The issue came to light on March 25, 2004, when Adrian Humphreys of the Canadian National Post
newspaper wrote an article entitled "Five-year plan to 'put footprints in the snow' and assert northern sovereignty". Humphreys made a brief mention of the dispute over Hans Island, and that the Danes had sent warships to the island.
While Canada wanted to assert sovereignty of its northern territories for a variety of reasons unrelated to this dispute, Hans Island soon became the focus of the debate, and was presented as the main reason for this new Canadian policy.
The Arctic sea region has long been a subject of dispute. In this matter, Canada, Denmark, Russia
and Norway
all share a common interest because they regard parts of the Arctic seas as "national waters". The United States
and most European Union
countries, on the other hand, officially regard the region as international waters
.
Further items in the Canadian media led to the issue being picked up by international news organizations.
The Canadian federal government's 2004 budget was introduced on March 23, 2004, two days before the issue gained widespread attention. It proposed minimal increases to spending on national defence. The issue of Hans Island was raised in the Canadian Parliament by opposition foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day
to highlight the government's failure to provide more funding for the military.
A new article by Adrian Humphreys on March 30, 2004, also in the National Post, entitled "Danes summon envoy over Arctic fight — the solution of the dispute is not going to be military", drew even more attention to the issue. The article claimed that Brian Herman, Canada’s only diplomat in Denmark (ambassador Alfonso Gagliano
having been recently recalled as a result of an unrelated Canadian scandal
), was called before the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
, to comment about his country's intentions in the dispute, which had, according to the article, recently been inflamed by Danish sailors occupying Hans Island.
On March 31, 2004, the Danish and Canadian governments denied that Herman or any other Canadian official was summoned to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both governments stated that the dispute was a long-standing issue, and that nothing had changed in the matter.
The last time Danish seamen visited the island had been on August 1, 2003, but this information was not brought to the public's attention during the discussion.
A Canadian military exercise, named "Narwhal 04", inflamed the issue further. Some saw this as a response to the Danish flag planting. However, this exercise had been in the planning stage since September 2003, and it took place around Pangnirtung, Baffin Island
, 2000 kilometre south of Hans Island. The Canadian military denied that the exercise had anything to do with the Danish–Canadian territorial dispute. The exercise took place from August 9 to August 30, 2004, involving about 160 soldiers from the army, various aircraft, helicopters and one frigate, . About 600 Canadian Forces
personnel were involved in total.
A new development came to light after Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham visited the island on July 20, 2005. Peter Taksø-Jensen, the head of the International Law
department at Denmark's foreign ministry, said the following in an interview with Reuters
on July 25 in response to the event:
This is the first time a Danish government official has claimed that the island is solely Danish territory and is not in dispute. The Danish government has also said that it plans to return to Hans Island in the near future to re-erect its flag.
On August 18, 2005, Canadian frigate left Halifax for an Arctic cruise. Canadian officials said the month-long patrol was unrelated to the Hans Island dispute. The Kingston class patrol vessels
HMCS Glace Bay
and HMCS Shawinigan
were also scheduled to patrol the Arctic in 2005.
In July 2007, owing to updated satellite imagery, Canadian authorities admitted that the island is not solely in Canadian territory, but recognized that the international border lies roughly in the middle of the island.
If the island is shared, then both Canada and Denmark would have a land border with a second country.
which promoted either Danish or Canadian sovereignty over Hans Island.
According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen
on July 27, 2005, Toronto
resident Rick Broadhead saw an ad on Google stating "Hans Island is Greenland. Greenland natives have used the island for centuries" and which linked to a Danish foreign affairs webpage that stated that Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent a note to Canada's ambassador to Denmark on July 25, 2005 expressing Denmark's regret that "the Canadian Minister of National Defence had paid a visit to Hans Island without prior notification of the Danish Government." Poul Erik Dam Kristensen, Denmark's ambassador to Canada, told the press that the paid advertisement was not a Danish government initiative and whoever placed it was acting alone.
According to the article, this prompted Broadhead to put up his own ad on Google which linked to his own site, which promoted the Canadian claim to the island, on July 26.
Kennedy Channel
Kennedy Channel is an Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's most northerly island, Ellesmere Island.It forms part of Nares Strait, linking Kane Basin with Hall Basin. From the south, its beginning is marked by Capes Lawrence and Jackson; its junction with Hall Basin is marked by Capes...
of Nares Strait
Nares Strait
Nares Strait is a waterway between Ellesmere Island and Greenland that is the northern part of Baffin Bay where it meets the Lincoln Sea. From south to north, the strait includes Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin and Robeson Channel...
—the strait that separates Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
from northern Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and connects Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...
with the Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from Cape Columbia, Canada, in the west to Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland, in the east. The northern limit is defined as the great circle line between those two headlands. It is covered with sea ice throughout the year, the thickest sea...
. Hans Island is the smallest of three islands located in Kennedy Channel; the others are Franklin Island
Franklin Island
Franklin Island is one of three islands located in Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic and is part of Greenland. Its two sister islands are Crozier Island and Hans Island. The former is also part of Greenland, whilst the latter's ownership is disputed between Denmark and Canada.It...
and Crozier Island
Crozier Island
Crozier Island is one of three islands located in Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic, and is part of Greenland. Its two sister islands are Franklin Island and Hans Island. The former is also part of Greenland, whilst the latter's ownership is disputed between Greenland and...
. The island has been part of Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
hunting grounds since long before people of European descent became aware of its existence.
The island is claimed by both Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
Name
The island is named after Hans HendrikHans Hendrik
Hans Hendrik, also known as Hans Christian, native name Suersaq , was a Greenlandic Arctic traveller and interpreter, born in the southern settlement of Fiskernaes .-Supporting the Kane Expedition:...
(sometimes called Heindrich), whose native name was Suersaq. Hendrik was a Greenlandic Arctic traveller and translator who worked on the American and British Arctic expeditions of Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He was born in the state of Vermont, but while he was still a child his family moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where, as a boy, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. In the 1840s he married and drifted...
, Isaac Israel Hayes
Isaac Israel Hayes
Isaac Israel Hayes was an Arctic explorer and physician.Hayes was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After completing his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Hayes signed on as ship's surgeon for an 1853-5 expedition led by Elisha Kent Kane to search for John Franklin...
and George Strong Nares
George Nares
Vice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares KCB FRS was a British naval officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded both the Challenger Expedition and the British Arctic Expedition, and was highly thought of a leader and a scientific explorer...
, from 1853 to 1876.
The island was probably named sometime between 1871 and 1873 during Charles Francis Hall's third North Pole expedition. The first written reference to the name, and indeed to the island at all, appears in Charles Henry Davis
Charles Henry Davis
Charles Henry Davis was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, serving primarily during the American Civil War, and with the United States Coast Survey.-Early life and career:...
's book Narrative of the North Polar expedition (1876), which is a narrative of Hall's third North Pole expedition. On page 407 it suddenly appears, without any previous introduction; a map accompanying the book is where the island made its first cartographic appearance. Charles Henry Davis writes,
This writing is about the ship Polaris's return voyage south down the Kennedy channel. It does not give any answer to when it was named; however, the ship doctor and leader of the scientific part of the expedition, Emil Bessels
Emil Bessels
Dr. Emil Bessels was a German Jewish physician and Arctic explorer. Born in Heidelberg, Germany, he studied medicine and natural sciences in his home town and at the university of Jena. Bessels spent much of his scientific career working for the Smithsonian Institution...
, wrote his own book, Die amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition (1879 in German). He mentions on page 124 that on August 29, 1871, on the voyage up north through Kennedy Channel, the ship sailed between Grinnell-land (Ellesmere Island) and an unknown little island which they would later name Hans Island, after Hans Hendrik, the native Greenlandic helper.
Previous Hans Island
A previous mention of a Hans Island is found in Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition, 1853,’54,’55, by Elisha Kent Kane (1857), pages 317–319, making the year 1853 often cited as the date of the discovery and naming of Hans Island, including in the letter by the Danish Ambassador to Canada, published in the Ottawa CitizenOttawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
, 28 July 2005.
Littleton Island
Littleton Island (Arctic)
Littleton Island is an island approximately from Greenland’s coast right in Smith Sound. It is about south of the island today called Hans Island. Around it and the coast of Greenland lay dozens of tiny Islands, and Kane names one of them Hans Island after Hans Hendrik, the native Greenlandic...
(Greenlandic: Pikiuleq) is approximately 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) from Greenland’s coast right in Smith Sound. It is about 300 kilometre south of the island today called Hans Island. Around it and the coast of Greenland lay dozens of tiny Islands, and Kane names one of them Hans Island after Hans Hendrik, the native Greenlandic helper he had with him on the trip. That this is the current Littleton Island is testified by Kane mentioning Edward Augustus Inglefield
Edward Augustus Inglefield
Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield was a Royal Naval officer who led one of the searches for the missing Arctic explorer John Franklin during the 1850s. In doing so, his expedition charted previously unexplored areas along the northern Canadian coastline, including Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and...
, who indeed named Littleton Island.
Region names
The names of many places in this region have changed or been altered during the last 100 years. For example, the name of Nares Strait (named after George Strong Nares), separating Ellesmere Island and Northern Greenland, was not agreed upon between the Danish and Canadian governments until 1964.Early history
InuitInuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
living in Northern Greenland or Canada had likely crossed this area for centuries. Up to the early 19th century, the northern area of Greenland and Canada remained completely unexplored by Europeans.
From 1850 to 1880, the area in which Hans Island is situated was explored by American and British expeditions. These expeditions were a response partly due to the popular search for the missing British explorer John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
, and partly to search for the elusive Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
and/or reach the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
.
The Danish "Celebration Expedition" of 1920 to 1923 accurately mapped the whole region of the Northern Greenland coast from Cape York
Cape York (Greenland)
Cape York is a cape on the northwestern coast of Greenland, in northern Baffin Bay. The cape, located west-south-west of the Savissivik settlement, delimits the northwestern end of Melville Bay, with the other end commonly defined as Wilcox Head, the western promontory on Kiatassuaq Island.-...
(Kap York) to Denmark Sound
Denmark Sound
Denmark Sound is a sound located on the northeast tip of Greenland. The sound, together with Independence Sound and Hagen Sound, flow into the Wandel Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean....
(Danmark fjord).
In 1933, the Permanent Court of International Justice
Permanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
declared the legal status of Greenland in favour of Denmark. Denmark claims that geological evidence points to Hans Island being part of Greenland, and therefore that it belongs to Denmark by extension of the Court's ruling.
Since the 1960s, numerous surveys have been undertaken in the Nares Strait region, including seismic, ice flow, mapping, archeological and economic surveys. Canadian-based Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based petroleum producer in the Alberta oilfields. Jack Gallager joined a group of investors in Dome Exploration Ltd. in 1950 and built it into the major Canadian oil company Dome Petroleum Limited . Gallagher was the sole employee for the first two years...
Ltd. made surveys on and around Hans Island from 1980 to 1983, to investigate the movement of ice masses.
1972–73 border treaty
In 1972, a team consisting of personnel from the Canadian Hydrographic ServiceCanadian Hydrographic Service
The Canadian Hydrographic Service is Canada's hydrographic office, with responsibility for performing hydrographic surveys and publishing paper and electronic nautical charts...
and Danish personnel working in the Nares Strait determined the geographic coordinates for Hans Island. During negotiations between Canada and Denmark on Northern maritime boundaries
Maritime boundary
Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources,...
in 1973, Canada claimed that Hans Island was part of its territory. No agreement was reached between the two governments on the issue.
The border is established in the delimitation
Boundary delimitation
Boundary delimitation, or simply delimitation, is the term used to describe the drawing of boundaries, but is most often used to describe the drawing of electoral boundaries, specifically those of precincts, states, counties or other municipalities...
treaty about the continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
between Greenland and Canada, ratified by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
on December 17, 1973, and in force since March 13, 1974. At that time, it was the longest shelf boundary treaty ever negotiated and may have been the first ever continental shelf boundary developed by a computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
.
The treaty lists 127 points (latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
and longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
) from Davis Strait
Davis Strait
Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....
to the end of Robeson Channel
Robeson Channel
Robeson Channel is a body of water lying between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It is the most northerly part of Nares Strait, linking Hall Basin to the south with the Arctic Ocean to the north....
, where Nares Strait runs into Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from Cape Columbia, Canada, in the west to Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland, in the east. The northern limit is defined as the great circle line between those two headlands. It is covered with sea ice throughout the year, the thickest sea...
, to draw geodesic
Geodesic
In mathematics, a geodesic is a generalization of the notion of a "straight line" to "curved spaces". In the presence of a Riemannian metric, geodesics are defined to be the shortest path between points in the space...
lines between, to form the border. The treaty does not, however, draw a line from point 122 (80° 49' 2 - 66° 29' 0) to point 123 (80° 49' 8 - 66° 26' 3), a distance of 875 m (2,870.7 ft). Hans Island is situated in the centre of this area.
1980s joint administration
In 1984 Kenn HarperKenn Harper
Kenn Harper is a Canadian grocer in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He writes a regular column in Nunatsiaq News. He was employed at various times as a teacher and development officer and is an entrepreneur. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society...
, a historian from Iqaluit, Nunavut
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Iqaluit is the territorial capital and the largest community of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Iqaluit is located on the south coast of Baffin Island at the head of Frobisher Bay. As of the 2006 census the population was 6,184, an increase of 18.1 percent from the 2001 census; it has the...
, wrote an article about Hans Island which was published in the local newspaper Hainang, in Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq is the main town in the northern part of the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the West Greenlandic language and many also speak Inuktun. The town has a population of 626 as of 2010...
(Thule) in northwestern Greenland. This article was picked up by a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, and by CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
in Canada, which gave Hans Island its first fleeting publicity.
This article was sparked because of a chance encounter on the ice near Resolute, Nunavut
Resolute, Nunavut
Resolute or Resolute Bay is a small Inuit hamlet on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut, Canada. It is situated at the northern end of Resolute Bay and the Northwest Passage and is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region....
, in the Canadian Arctic in the autumn of 1983. According to Kenn Harper he met a man wearing a hat with bold letters around the side of the hat saying "HANS ISLAND, N.W.T.". This man was a scientist with Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based petroleum producer in the Alberta oilfields. Jack Gallager joined a group of investors in Dome Exploration Ltd. in 1950 and built it into the major Canadian oil company Dome Petroleum Limited . Gallagher was the sole employee for the first two years...
who had just spent the summer on the island doing ice research. Dome Petroleum did research on and around the island from 1980 to 1983.
Simultaneously, the Danish and Canadian governments were in the process of signing a cooperation agreement in relation to the marine environment in Nares Strait. The agreement was signed and put into force on August 26, 1983. (The treaty was extended even further in 1991.)
One of the items also discussed was the possibility of establishing a reciprocal arrangement for processing applications to conduct research on and around Hans Island. This was never signed; however, Canadian John Munro, at that time Minister for Northern Affairs and Development, and Danish Tom Høyem
Tom Høyem
Tom Høyem was born on 10 October 1941. Between September 1982 and September 1987, he served as Minister for Greenland within the Danish government under the premiership of Poul Schlüter...
, at that time Minister for Greenland
Minister for Greenland
Minister of Greenland was a cabinet post for affairs with the Danish Arctic territory.Tom Høyem was Minister from 1982 and served till 1987 briefly ....
, agreed, in common interest, to avoid acts that might prejudice future negotiations.
However, unknown to the politicians, Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the island. According to Kenn Harper, the Canadian Department of External Affairs conducting these negotiations with the Danes might not even have been aware that Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the island. Kenn Harper claims that in 1984 a senior official of Energy Mines and Resources, Canada, wrote him, saying, "To my knowledge the Department of Energy, Mines & Resources did not confer with the Department of External Affairs over the use of the island by Dome Petroleum."
When Kenn Harper’s article of 1984, mentioning Dome Petroleum and Hans Island, found its way to the Danish newspapers, it is not difficult to see why Tom Høyem in 1984 chartered a helicopter from Greenland and went to Hans Island. It might indeed have been something so simple as a misunderstanding and breach in communications.
In 1984, the Danish Minister for Greenland
Minister for Greenland
Minister of Greenland was a cabinet post for affairs with the Danish Arctic territory.Tom Høyem was Minister from 1982 and served till 1987 briefly ....
planted the Danish flag on the Island and left a little message saying "Velkommen til den danske ø" (Welcome to the Danish Island). It is also said he left a bottle of cognac.
2004 to present
The dispute suddenly came to popular attention through Canadian press stories during late March 2004. Within days, it spread to other newspapers worldwide.The issue came to light on March 25, 2004, when Adrian Humphreys of the Canadian National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
newspaper wrote an article entitled "Five-year plan to 'put footprints in the snow' and assert northern sovereignty". Humphreys made a brief mention of the dispute over Hans Island, and that the Danes had sent warships to the island.
While Canada wanted to assert sovereignty of its northern territories for a variety of reasons unrelated to this dispute, Hans Island soon became the focus of the debate, and was presented as the main reason for this new Canadian policy.
The Arctic sea region has long been a subject of dispute. In this matter, Canada, Denmark, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
all share a common interest because they regard parts of the Arctic seas as "national waters". The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and most European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries, on the other hand, officially regard the region as international waters
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
.
Further items in the Canadian media led to the issue being picked up by international news organizations.
The Canadian federal government's 2004 budget was introduced on March 23, 2004, two days before the issue gained widespread attention. It proposed minimal increases to spending on national defence. The issue of Hans Island was raised in the Canadian Parliament by opposition foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
to highlight the government's failure to provide more funding for the military.
A new article by Adrian Humphreys on March 30, 2004, also in the National Post, entitled "Danes summon envoy over Arctic fight — the solution of the dispute is not going to be military", drew even more attention to the issue. The article claimed that Brian Herman, Canada’s only diplomat in Denmark (ambassador Alfonso Gagliano
Alfonso Gagliano
Alfonso Gagliano, PC, FCGA is a Canadian accountant and a former Liberal Party politician.Born in Siculiana, Italy, his political career began in 1977 when he ran for a seat on the Montreal school board. In the 1984 federal election, he ran for Parliament for Saint-Léonard—Anjou narrowly...
having been recently recalled as a result of an unrelated Canadian scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
), was called before the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and its overseas representations are in charge of Denmark's foreign affairs...
, to comment about his country's intentions in the dispute, which had, according to the article, recently been inflamed by Danish sailors occupying Hans Island.
On March 31, 2004, the Danish and Canadian governments denied that Herman or any other Canadian official was summoned to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both governments stated that the dispute was a long-standing issue, and that nothing had changed in the matter.
The last time Danish seamen visited the island had been on August 1, 2003, but this information was not brought to the public's attention during the discussion.
A Canadian military exercise, named "Narwhal 04", inflamed the issue further. Some saw this as a response to the Danish flag planting. However, this exercise had been in the planning stage since September 2003, and it took place around Pangnirtung, Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, 2000 kilometre south of Hans Island. The Canadian military denied that the exercise had anything to do with the Danish–Canadian territorial dispute. The exercise took place from August 9 to August 30, 2004, involving about 160 soldiers from the army, various aircraft, helicopters and one frigate, . About 600 Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
personnel were involved in total.
A new development came to light after Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham visited the island on July 20, 2005. Peter Taksø-Jensen, the head of the International Law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
department at Denmark's foreign ministry, said the following in an interview with Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
on July 25 in response to the event:
This is the first time a Danish government official has claimed that the island is solely Danish territory and is not in dispute. The Danish government has also said that it plans to return to Hans Island in the near future to re-erect its flag.
On August 18, 2005, Canadian frigate left Halifax for an Arctic cruise. Canadian officials said the month-long patrol was unrelated to the Hans Island dispute. The Kingston class patrol vessels
Kingston class patrol vessel
The Kingston-class consists of 12 coastal defence vessels operated by the Royal Canadian Navy.The class is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project...
HMCS Glace Bay
HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701)
HMCS Glace Bay is a that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1996.Glace Bay is the second ship of her class which is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the second vessel to use the designation ....
and HMCS Shawinigan
HMCS Shawinigan (MM 704)
HMCS Shawinigan is a that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1997.Shawinigan is the fifth ship of her class which is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the second vessel to use the designation ....
were also scheduled to patrol the Arctic in 2005.
In July 2007, owing to updated satellite imagery, Canadian authorities admitted that the island is not solely in Canadian territory, but recognized that the international border lies roughly in the middle of the island.
If the island is shared, then both Canada and Denmark would have a land border with a second country.
Google fight
"Google fight" or "Google war" is the name given to a number of advertisements on the Internet search engine GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
which promoted either Danish or Canadian sovereignty over Hans Island.
According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
on July 27, 2005, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
resident Rick Broadhead saw an ad on Google stating "Hans Island is Greenland. Greenland natives have used the island for centuries" and which linked to a Danish foreign affairs webpage that stated that Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent a note to Canada's ambassador to Denmark on July 25, 2005 expressing Denmark's regret that "the Canadian Minister of National Defence had paid a visit to Hans Island without prior notification of the Danish Government." Poul Erik Dam Kristensen, Denmark's ambassador to Canada, told the press that the paid advertisement was not a Danish government initiative and whoever placed it was acting alone.
According to the article, this prompted Broadhead to put up his own ad on Google which linked to his own site, which promoted the Canadian claim to the island, on July 26.
Timeline
- 1980-1983 - Canadian firm Dome PetroleumDome PetroleumDome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based petroleum producer in the Alberta oilfields. Jack Gallager joined a group of investors in Dome Exploration Ltd. in 1950 and built it into the major Canadian oil company Dome Petroleum Limited . Gallagher was the sole employee for the first two years...
did research on and around the island. - 1984 - Tom HøyemTom HøyemTom Høyem was born on 10 October 1941. Between September 1982 and September 1987, he served as Minister for Greenland within the Danish government under the premiership of Poul Schlüter...
, Danish Minister for GreenlandMinister for GreenlandMinister of Greenland was a cabinet post for affairs with the Danish Arctic territory.Tom Høyem was Minister from 1982 and served till 1987 briefly ....
, chartered a helicopter to the island. - 1988 - The Danish Arctic Ocean patrol cutter arrived at the island, built a cairnCairnCairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
and placed a flagpole and Danish flagFlag of DenmarkThe national flag of Denmark, Dannebrog is red with a white Scandinavian cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side...
on the island. - 1995 - The Danish liaison officer and geodesists GeodesyGeodesyGeodesy , also named geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space. Geodesists also study geodynamical phenomena such as crustal...
flew in and placed another flagpole and flag. - Late August 1997 - The Danish Arctic/Ocean patrol cutter tried to reach the island, but was forced to turn around 241 km (150 mi) from the Island, owing to extreme ice.
- 2001 - Keith Dewing and Chris Harrison, geologists with the Geological Survey of Canada who were mapping northern Ellesmere IslandEllesmere IslandEllesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
, flew by helicopter to the island. - August 13, 2002 - The Danish inspection ship arrived and erected a new cairn, flagpole and flag, finding the 1988 flag missing and the 1995 flag in pieces, likely owing to weather.
- August 1, 2003 - The crew of the Danish frigate landed on the island and replaced the Danish flag again.
- July 13 2005 - Canadian soldiers land on the Island, placing a traditional Inuit stone marker (InukshukInukshukAn inuksuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland...
) with a plaque and a Canadian flagFlag of CanadaThe national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...
. - July 20, 2005 - As a symbolic move, Canadian Defence MinisterMinister of National Defence (Canada)The Minister of National Defence is a Minister of the Crown; the Canadian politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the Department of National Defence which oversees the Canadian Forces....
Bill Graham set foot on the island. - July 25, 2005 - A Danish government official announced that Denmark would issue a letter of protestLetter of ProtestA letter of protest or diplomatic note is a diplomatic document presented by one state's foreign ministry to another state.A letter of protest is written in a highly formal manner, intended to be both courteous and critical at the same time...
to Canada. - July 26, 2005 - Deputy premier of Greenland, Josef MotzfeldtJosef MotzfeldtJosef Motzfeldt is a Greenland politician and serves as Minister for Finance and Foreign Affairs in the Greenland Homerule Gorvernment.He is the current president of the West Nordic Council....
, stated that the island had been occupied by Canada, stating that experts should determine which country the island belongs to. - July 28, 2005 - The Danish Ambassador to Canada published an article in the Ottawa CitizenOttawa CitizenThe Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
newspaper regarding the Danish view on the Hans Island issue. - August 4, 2005 - The Danish Arctic/Ocean patrol cutter was sent from Naval Station Grønnedal to Hans Island to assert Danish sovereignty. The cutter was expected to arrive in three weeks' time.
- August 8, 2005 - Danish newspapers reported that Canada wished to open negotiations regarding the future of Hans Island. The news was welcomed by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh RasmussenAnders Fogh RasmussenAnders Fogh Rasmussen is a Danish politician, and the 12th and current Secretary General of NATO. Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 27 November 2001 to 5 April 2009....
who stated that "It is time to stop the flag war. It has no place in a modern, international world. Countries like Denmark and Canada must be able to find a peaceful solution in a case such as this." - August 16, 2005 - According to Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig MøllerPer Stig MøllerPer Stig Møller was Culture Minister of Denmark. He has been a member of Folketinget for the Conservative People's Party since 1984, and was Minister for the Environment from December 18, 1990 to January 24, 1993 as part of the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter IV and Foreign Minister from November 27,...
, Denmark and Canada agreed to reopen negotiations regarding the future of Hans Island. Denmark would immediately begin geological surveys in the area, and Per Stig Møller would meet his Canadian counterpart Pierre PettigrewPierre PettigrewPierre Stewart Pettigrew, PC is a Canadian politician.Born in Quebec City, Pettigrew has a BA in Philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University...
in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the middle of September. Should they fail to reach an agreement, both governments have agreed to submit the dispute to the International Court of JusticeInternational Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
in The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. The government of Greenland agreed to this course of action. Regarding the Danish patrol cutter then en route to Hans Island, the minister stated "I have instructed the ship to sail there, but they will not go ashore tearing down [the Canadian] flag and replacing it with a new one. It would be a somewhat childish [behaviour] between two NATO allies." - August 20, 2005 - Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, stated that Canada's claim to the island had a firm basis in international law and would likely not end up before a world court. "Our sovereignty over the island has a very strong foundation," the minister said in a telephone interview with a Canadian PressCanadian PressCanadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
journalist. - September 19, 2005 - According to Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, Canada and Denmark have agreed on a process to resolve the dispute over the island. Pettigrew and his Danish counterpart, Per Stig Møller, met in New York on this day. Pettigrew said the two countries would work together "to put this issue behind us." However Pettigrew reiterated that Canada has sovereignty over the island.
- August 16, 2006 - A Vancouver geologist receives a prospecting permit for Hans Island from the Canadian government.
- March 17, 2007 - Scientists from the University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and the Technical University of DenmarkTechnical University of DenmarkThe Technical University of Denmark , often simply referred to as DTU, is a university just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and is today ranked among Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the...
announced plans to install an automated weather station on the island, some time in the summer of 2007. - July, 2007 - Canada updates satellite photos and recognizes international border as crossing through the middle of Hans Island, not to the east of the island as previously claimed.
- May 4, 2008 - An international group of scientists from Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Scotland installed an automated weather station on Hans Island.
See also
- List of islands of Canada
- List of islands of Denmark
- Operation Hurricane (Canada)Operation Hurricane (Canada)Operation Hurricane is an annual month-long technical maintenance mission conducted by Canadian Forces personnel in the Canadian Arctic.Each summer, since 1982, Canadian military technicians and support personnel have been deployed by helicopters to repair and resupply the otherwise unattended High...
External links
- Hans Island: A border dispute between Denmark and Canada - Background, maps, timeline about the Hans Island dispute.
- NPR's Morning Edition, Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 - Summary of the dispute.
- Newsletter No.3 HDMS Triton - about the 1 August 2003 landing on the island.
- CASR - article on the dispute by the Canadian American Strategic Review.
- Caryophyllaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
- Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
- Canadian Archipelago Throughflow Study
- Crisis in the Arctic!
- Canadian perspective, March 29, 2004 (updated)
- The Globe and Mail: Denmark won't provoke 'flag war' over Hans Island
- Principality of Tartupaluk A student claiming the island.
Sources
- United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
: Delimitation Treaties. Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Government of Canada relating to the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Greenland and Canada, 17 December 1973, - U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Intelligence and Research Limits in the Seas No. 72 Continental shelf Boundary: Canada – Greenland, Issued by the Geographer, 4 August 1976.
- Hans Island rightfully belongs to Greenland, Denmark - Kenn HarperKenn HarperKenn Harper is a Canadian grocer in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He writes a regular column in Nunatsiaq News. He was employed at various times as a teacher and development officer and is an entrepreneur. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society...
, Article, Nunatsiaq News, April 9, 2004. - Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark for Cooperation relating to the Marine Environment, August 26, 1983.
- Narrative of the North Polar expedition : U.S Ship PolarisUSS Periwinkle (1864)USS Periwinkle was a steamer procured by the Union Navy during the final months of the American Civil War. She served the Union Navy’s struggle against the Confederate States of America as a patrol gunship....
, Captain Charles Francis HallCharles Francis HallCharles Francis Hall was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He was born in the state of Vermont, but while he was still a child his family moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where, as a boy, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. In the 1840s he married and drifted...
commanding, edited under the direction of G. M. Robeson by C. H. Davis. Washington, G. P. O.United States Government Printing OfficeThe United States Government Printing Office is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States federal government. The office prints documents produced by and for the federal government, including the Supreme Court, the Congress, the Executive Office of the President, executive...
, 1876.