Keep off our tiny frozen island, Denmark tells Canada

  • News
  • Thread starter fourier jr
  • Start date
  • Tags
    Canada
In summary: Not much. There's been some seismic surveying done, but that's about it. Not much. There's been some seismic surveying done, but that's about it.
  • #1
fourier jr
765
13
Keep off our tiny frozen island, Denmark tells Canada Mon Jul 25,12:43 PM ET

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Denmark protested against an unannounced visit last week by the defense minister of Canada to a small and uninhabitable island in the Arctic claimed by both countries.

Defense Minister Bill Graham stopped on Hans Island, north of Greenland, on Wednesday while on a whirlwind tour of Canada's Arctic military posts, to survey the barren patch of land that sits on the boundary between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Denmark's Greenland.

The dispute over the island, which is less than 100 metres (yards) wide, dates back to 1973 when the border was drawn between Canada and Greenland, which is part of Denmark.

Canada's ambassador to Denmark, Fredericka Gregory, was summoned to the Danish foreign ministry on Monday for talks.

"We said that we deplored the visit which was not announced to Denmark in advance, and we recalled that Hans Island has been part of Greenland since its discovery in 1852 during an expedition" conducted by Denmark and Greenland, the foreign ministry's chief legal counsel, Peter Taksoee-Jensen, told AFP.

The snow-covered site is uninhabitable, but the onset of global warming is expected to bring ship traffic to the region soon and open it up to mining, fishing or drilling for oil and gas.

Danes and Canadians have visited it often to lay claim to it.

etc etc

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050725/wl_canada_afp/canadadenmarkpolitics_050725164323
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
why is this a thread?

Edit: Oh hey, turns out Canada does have a defence minister! :biggrin:
 
  • #3
Oh pff, bickering over something this insignificant? Just do what the US does and invade em. That'll show em what's what.
 
  • #4
Smurf said:
why is this a thread?

Edit: Oh hey, turns out Canada does have a defence minister! :biggrin:
Comic releif.
:biggrin:
 
  • #5
Pengwuino said:
Oh pff, bickering over something this insignificant? Just do what the US does and invade em. That'll show em what's what.
I'm confused... who would invade who? :tongue2:
 
  • #6
Smurf said:
I'm confused... who would invade who? :tongue2:
They don't invade. they agree to meet in Iceland and slap each other over the head with frozen salmon until someone shouts "Sven"!

(I hear the Canadians are sending a ringer ... He's wearing a turban.:wink: )
 
  • #7
I don't see what the fuss is about really.

He just stepped out for ice.
 
  • #8
Yeah, them danes are picky bastards, won't let anything go.
 
  • #9
Smurf said:
Yeah, them danes are picky bastards, won't let anything go.
So Smurf when are you heading off to war with the Danes? :rofl:
p.s. Out of interest what sort of military capabilities do the Danes and Canadians possesses relative to one another?
 
  • #10
Smurf said:
I'm confused... who would invade who? :tongue2:

Whichever country finds a gun first invades :D
 
  • #11
Art said:
So Smurf when are you heading off to war with the Danes? :rofl:
p.s. Out of interest what sort of military capabilities do the Danes and Canadians possesses relative to one another?
That's interesting. I think I'll do an analysis.

My first figure is to point out that Canada has well over 5 times the population Denmark does. Not that this would be a factor unless they go to... TOTAL WAR!

Canada's military expenditure is 3x denmarks, while still spending .4% less of their GDP.

So, looking at the national statistics, Canada's won so far. But let's look at technology and standing military intelligence.
 
Last edited:
  • #12
Canada's in trouble

Uh Oh! Denmark's navy is gearing up for the invasion. We don't stand a chance against them!
 
  • #13
Smurf said:
Uh Oh! Denmark's navy is gearing up for the invasion. We don't stand a chance against them!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: And don't forget about the Norse gods they are holding in reserve :biggrin:
 
  • #14
Smurf said:
Uh Oh! Denmark's navy is gearing up for the invasion. We don't stand a chance against them!
I think you're safe in BC. They'll be kind of old by the time they row through the Panama Canal.
 
  • #15
The Smoking Man said:
I think you're safe in BC. They'll be kind of old by the time they row through the Panama Canal.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
  • #16
fourier jr said:
The snow-covered site is uninhabitable, but the onset of global warming is expected to bring ship traffic to the region soon and open it up to mining, fishing or drilling for oil and gas.
Not like both countries don't have plenty of frozen tundra... Better start looking into buying land there because it's getting too hot in the southwest. But do I need citizenship, and if so, through what country?
 
  • #17
fourier jr said:
The dispute over the island, which is less than 100 metres (yards) wide, dates back to 1973 when the border was drawn between Canada and Greenland, which is part of Denmark.

...

The snow-covered site is uninhabitable, but the onset of global warming is expected to bring ship traffic to the region soon and open it up to mining, fishing or drilling for oil and gas.

Danes and Canadians have visited it often to lay claim to it.

How much mining and drilling can take place on a 100 metre chunk of rock?

The debate doesn't seem worth it to me. I can run clear across the island in around 15 seconds, and for the world-class runners, in 9-10.
 
  • #18
SOS2008 said:
Not like both countries don't have plenty of frozen tundra... Better start looking into buying land there because it's getting too hot in the southwest. But do I need citizenship, and if so, through what country?
It will get submerged when the oceans rise ... moot point.
 
  • #19
motai said:
The debate doesn't seem worth it to me. I can run clear across the island in around 15 seconds, and for the world-class runners, in 9-10.
Ah, this is true now, but just wait until they're done mining and drilling.

Imagine. If we assume (as you have :smile: ) that the island's value is proportional to the amount of time it takes to run across it, then the more mining and drilling occur, the more valuable to island will become.

The only logical outcome is war!
 
  • #20
motai said:
How much mining and drilling can take place on a 100 metre chunk of rock?

The debate doesn't seem worth it to me. I can run clear across the island in around 15 seconds, and for the world-class runners, in 9-10.
I'd guess they are more interested in the fishing rights and the 300 mile offshore drilling rights that goes with ownership of this little piece of ice. :smile:
These reasons were sufficient to have Britain go to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands
 
  • #21
Art said:
I'd guess they are more interested in the fishing rights and the 300 mile offshore drilling rights that goes with ownership of this little piece of ice. :smile:
These reasons were sufficient to have Britain go to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands

What troubles me more is that it looks like they've been quarreling over this issue for 32 years. The island is just large enough to build a house of some sort. But I wonder how much oil may be in possible deposits in the offshore region... surely not enough to go to war with. The thing that amused me the most though was the ministers "unexpected visit" to the island, as if there was something to see there. It is probably flat and icy, like the rest of the terrain.

And for the fishing, the two countries might as well take delegates like what The Smoking Man said...

The Smoking Man said:
They don't invade. they agree to meet in Iceland and slap each other over the head with frozen salmon until someone shouts "Sven"!
 
  • #22
Leggo my Eggo!
 
  • #23
I have NO sympathy for the plight of the Danes. In the negotiations after 1814, when Denmark ceded (:grumpy:) Norway to the Swedes (:grumpy: :grumpy:), the Danes had the audacity to claim that Iceland and Greenland were ancient DANISH settlements rather than ancient NORWEGIAN settlements, and thus, the Danish king managed to keep his grubby hand on ancient Norwegian crownlands.

This evil, greedy attitude of the Danish people has now been punished by the staunch Canadians; if you want to go to war against Denmark over Hans Island, every Norwegian will join in your honourable struggle.
 
Last edited:
  • #24
Art said:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: And don't forget about the Norse gods they are holding in reserve :biggrin:
Don't worry about them; we Norwegians were always their favourites (discounting the heathen Swedish dogs, of course).
 
  • #25
Well the celts of the Scotland will kick all your scandic buts for diluting our gene pool :-) j/k (Bar sweden as they were more peaceful)
 
Last edited:
  • #26
Are you still claiming that Scotland owns the Hebrides?

We only pawned them, you know, back in the 14th century..
 
  • #27
I am more conserned about the lack of true Celtic Genetics in Scotland now... We have more scandic genes that Celtic genes now :-)

Anyway you have the Hebrides, we just want the oil ;-)
 
  • #28
arildno said:
This evil, greedy attitude of the Danish people has now been punished by the staunch Canadians; if you want to go to war against Denmark over Hans Island, every Norwegian will join in your honourable struggle.
:rofl: :biggrin: Yay! The Norweigans and Canadians join forces to drive back the evil Danes from the arctic seas back onto they're wannabe island!
 
  • #29
Actually, you can have Hans Island, as long as you take a reasonable position to the future status of Newfoundland (it was populated by Norwegians, you know..)
 
  • #30
Did you rape and pilage there too? :-)
 
  • #31
Anttech said:
Did you rape and pilage there too? :-)
Nah, the monks hadn't arrived there yet.
 
  • #32
arildno said:
Actually, you can have Hans Island, as long as you take a reasonable position to the future status of Newfoundland (it was populated by Norwegians, you know..)
Look, if you claim Newfoundland ...YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE NEWFIES.

Other than that, I see no problem.
 
  • #33
The Smoking Man said:
Look, if you claim Newfoundland ...YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE NEWFIES.

Other than that, I see no problem.
We're already used to handle Laplanders and those insisting to speak the linguistic perversion called Neo-Norwegian (called Barn Latin among decent folk), so I can't see how we couldn't handle a few newfies as well.
 
  • #34
yeh in Norway you have 2 offical languages don't you? Just like where I live...
 
  • #35
Anttech said:
yeh in Norway you have 2 offical languages don't you? Just like where I live...
Eeh no, we have 4 official languages:
Norwegian, the-linguistic-perversion-known-as-Neo-Norwegian, northern laplandish/saami, southern saami. :blushing:
 

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top