Deal ends ‘whiskey war’ over a tiny island near Greenland

June 20, 2022

Q: An agreement between Canada and Denmark last week ended a 49-year-old dispute over a barren arctic rock near Greenland – a contest that saw each side planting flags and leaving bottles of their nation’s liquor on the half-square-mile Hans Island. Where is Greenland on this map, centered on the North Pole?

Circle the area on this map

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Q: Hans Island is located between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The island is in the middle of a narrow body of water called a ...

A. Atoll

B. Estuary

C. Isthmus

D. Strait

Q: Canada and Denmark, which handles Greenland’s foreign affairs, agreed to split ownership of Hans Island, giving the two nations a 1,400-yard land border. Previously, Canada only had a land border with the United States. Denmark only had a land border with which nation?

A. Belgium

B. Germany

C. Netherlands

D. Poland

Q: Indigenous people occupied Ellesmere Island and Greenland thousands of years before any European people made any territorial claims in the area. The first Europeans known to visit Greenland and Canada originated in which country?

A. Denmark

B. England

C. Norway

D. Spain

Q: Despite their “whiskey war” over Hans Island, Canada and Denmark have a long friendly history. They are both founding members of which alliance?

A. NATO

B. Triple Alliance

C. Triple Entente

D. Warsaw Pact

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Answers for this quiz: Click here