In the remote due north of the Atlantic Ocean , correct on the border of the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean , lies a tiny speck of an island. Named later on a 19th century Greenlandic Arctic traveller , the half-square-mile Hans Island is equally barren equally whatsoever uninhabited isle could e'er live on —a apartment , exposed rocky knoll amongst no vegetation in addition to no apparent natural resources. Yet , this nondescript slice of stone has been at the middle of a territorial dispute betwixt Canada in addition to Kingdom of Denmark that has been raging for most one-half a century.
Hans Island lies inwards the middle of the Nares Strait , a 22-mile-wide channel of H2O that separates Canada from Greenland , an autonomous territory of Denmark. International constabulary dictates that all countries bring the correct to claim territory inside 12 miles of their shore. This puts Hans Island inwards both Danish in addition to Canadian waters.
NY Times / Wikipedia