Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Denmark / Canada Hans Island

Hans Island

A long-disputed island that Denmark and Canada claim by periodically alternating flags and bottles of liquor.

Denmark / Canada

Added By
Henrik Johansson
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Hans Island   deadlyphoto.com / Alamy
Hans Island   Toubletap/cc by-sa 3.0
Aerial view of Hans Island.   NASA/Public Domain
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Hans Island is a small, uninhabited, barren rock in the Arctic with no known reserves of oil or natural gas. Still, there is an ongoing territorial dispute between Denmark and Canada over who owns this little rock, and a very odd one at that.

Unlike many other territory conflicts, this one is fought in a markedly peaceful way. The potential serious diplomatic implications aside, the Canadians and Danes take turns placing their flags on the island. This curious practice that has been going on since the 1980s. But it gets even odder.

The island was first disputed in 1933, but largely forgotten during World War II. The unusual dispute began again in earnest in 1984 when, during a visit to the island, the Danish Minister for Greenland planted the national flag and left a message saying "Welcome to the Danish island" ("Velkommen til den danske ø" in Danish) along with (it is said) a bottle of brandy. 

Ever since then, when the flag on the island is periodically changed between the Danish and Canadian flag, the bottle is also replaced. The Canadians leave a bottle of Canadian Club and the Danes a bottle of schnapps.

The conflict is as of today still unresolved, but there are suggestions on how to move forward. Arctic experts from Canada and Denmark propose making Hans Island into a condominium, a solution that has proven to resolve other conflicts in the past. But in a region of growing importance, as natural resources are becoming available and new shipping routes are opening up, it is unclear if both countries can settle for such a solution. 

Update as of August 2022: Canada and Denmark have agreed to share the island, splitting it down the middle. This gives Greenland its only international land border.

Related Tags

Islands Rivals Week Territorial Dispute Borders

Community Contributors

Added By

hrnick

Edited By

erjeffery, aribrown, mrgazpacho, cdanesh...

  • erjeffery
  • aribrown
  • mrgazpacho
  • cdanesh
  • Meg

Published

August 9, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Island
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_for_Greenland
  • http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/hans-island-boundary-dispute-canada-denmark-territorial-conflict.html
  • http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canada-denmark-should-turn-hans-island-into-a-condominium-academics-1.3315640
  • http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-and-denmark-whiskey-war-over-hans-island-2016-1?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
  • http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/canada-denmark-wage-whisky-war-on-rocks
Hans Island
Denmark / Canada
80.826871, -66.45965

Nearby Places

Ellesmere Island Mummified Forest

Nunavut

miles away

Ellesmere Island

Baffin, Unorganized, Nunavut

miles away

Nearby Places

Ellesmere Island Mummified Forest

Nunavut

miles away

Ellesmere Island

Baffin, Unorganized, Nunavut

miles away

Related Stories and Lists

10 Unusual Border Feuds Around the World

List

By Meg Neal

The Most Curious and Fascinating Places We Came Across This Week

list

By Meg Neal

Related Places

  • Seal in front, Machias Seal Island and lighthouse in back

    United States / Canada

    Machias Seal Island

    The only land territory disputed between the U.S. and Canada.

  • An overview of the Marble Hill neighborhood, seen from the west.

    New York, New York

    Marble Hill

    Manhattan and the Bronx have been playing tug-of-war over this former island neighborhood for more than a century.

  • Concordia Monument

    Belvedere, Sint Maarten

    Concordia Monument

    Where Saint-Martin ends and Sint Maarten begins (or vice versa).

  • Aerial photo of Baffins Pond

    Portsmouth, England

    The Micronations of Baffins Pond

    Three tiny islands in a Portsmouth pond are at the center of disputed land claims from a number of competing micronations.

  • Nahwa.

    Nahwa, United Arab Emirates

    Nahwa

    A small United Arab Emirates territory within an Omani enclave within the United Arab Emirates.

  • 1915 Michigan border post

    Erie, Michigan

    Michigan's Lost Peninsula

    This small piece of Michigan is entirely surrounded by Ohio.

  • Verdisian Flag Waving

    Kopačevo, Croatia

    Verdis

    A small self-proclaimed micro-state located on a piece of disputed territory between Croatia and Serbia, near Liberland.

  • Southernmost Point of Continental Asia

    Singapore

    Southernmost Point of Continental Asia

    Across this single-file rope bridge is what has been claimed to be the edge of continental Asia.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.