Greenland officially receives first border on solid land
Between 1973 and 2022, Canada, Greenland and therefore also Denmark engaged in a dispute that some media referred to as the “War at the North Pole” or the “Whisky War”. At its core stood tiny Hans Island, now known as Tartupaluk, in the middle of Nares Strait. Thanks to an agreement between the parties, the dispute was settled and now ratified by the Danish parliament on Tuesday. This gives all three countries a new border on solid ground, a first for Greenland.
Last Tuesday, the Danish Parliament’s resolution of the agreement of June 11, 2022 between Canada, Greenland and Denmark officially put an end to the discussions over Tartupaluk and the demarcation of the border between Greenland and Canada. This ends a 50-year dispute, which on the one hand involved the deployment of warships to the region. On the other hand, the dispute between two NATO partners took on comic proportions. With the agreement, the border between Greenland and Canada, which will run from the Arctic Ocean to the Labrador Sea, will now be more than 3,900 kilometers long, making it the longest maritime border in the world.
As the largest of the world’s islands, Greenland previously had no land borders with its neighbors Canada or Iceland. However, this will now change with the demarcation of the border, as it bisects the island officially called “Tartupaluk” (Greenlandic for kidney) into two parts and which will now be administered by Canada and Denmark/Greenland respectively. The island, which is only 1.4 square kilometers in size, is likely to see two flags in the future when patrol ships sail through the region.
The main features of the agreement, which still had to be voted on by the Danish parliament, were approved in Reykjavik in November 2021 and officially adopted and signed by the participating countries on June 11, 2022. This comes after both Canada and Denmark had decided in 2018 to settle the dispute over the demarcation of the border by means of a joint commission. In the meantime, Greenland has also joined the grouping on the basis of the self-government agreement and, should the country become independent at some point, will have to administer the border with Canada itself.
The dispute between Canada and Denmark flared up in 1973 when the two countries could not agree on where the maritime border between the Lincoln Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland, and the Labrador Sea to the south should run. At that time, fisheries considerations were the main factor in determining the course of the border. The dispute between the parties simmered for a long time without any sign of movement.
From 1984, the countries began to repeatedly hoist their flags on the small island, then known as Hans Island, as part of patrols. However, when Canada sent Canadian Defense Minister William Graham and afterwards two warships to the region in quick succession in 2005, the situation became somewhat more delicate for a brief moment. Both Denmark and Greenland reacted with harsh words, calling the actions “an occupation”.
For the most part, however, the actions were of a peaceful, sometimes respectful nature, with schnapps from the Danish side and whiskey from the Canadian side being presented alongside the flags. The agreement reached by all three parties, which has now been finalized with the ratification of the Danish parliament, shows that the Arctic could once again serve as an example to the world in terms of politics.
Dr Michael Wenger, PolarJournal
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