Talk:Hans Island

Does Canada currently border Greenland / the Danish Realm?
The articles Canada and Greenland currently say that Canada borders the Danish Realm through Greenland, while the article Danish Realm is silent on the matter (just noting that the border dispute ended) and implies that maybe Hans Island isn't part of Greenland at all, while this article says that the treaty is pending ratification. Which is it? News articles seem to often be glossing over the exact details of what the two to three sovereigns just agreed to. -- Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 23:54, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Canadian Geographic indicates that Canada, Denmark, and Greenland signed a treaty "creating a land border between Canada and Denmark". Other sources suggest that this treaty is pending ratification. Nikkimaria (talk) 03:12, 18 June 2022 (UTC)

Greenland is a country too, even though it's a country within the Danish realm. In fact, Greenland's website, Sermitsiaq, even states that Hans Island is half Canadian and half Greenlandic. Greenland is a nation. Greenlanders possess both Greenlandic nationality and Danish nationality, as evidenced by the fact they may choose to have a Greenlandic passport or Danish passport. During the formal signing, Greenland was referred to as a country and was required to sign in the same way that Canada and Denmark did. In addition, throughout Greenland, the national Greenlandic flag is prominently displayed and the Danish flag is rarely seen. Most of the media has not done their research. The border is between Canada and Greenland. Furthermore, some in the media also display their ignorance by stating that Canada borders the EU or Europe, which isn't correct at all. Greenland is not in the EU and all of Hans Island and all of Greenland are part of North America. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.82.246.2 (talk) 05:44, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I agree that Canada now borders Greenland, not Denmark. Although Greenland is a Danish territory, it is referred to as a separate country, just as Canada was referred to as a separate country before it assumed responsibility for its own external affairs following the First World War. TFD (talk) 07:24, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/greenland-gets-its-first-land-border https://sermitsiaq.ag/groenland-faar-foerste-landegraense https://www.blogto.com/travel/2022/06/greenland-canada-new-land-border/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULXF9RgNkrs


 * According to the article on the Danish Realm, Denmark is not a federation but a unitary state, containing three components: Denmark, the Faeroe Islands, and Greenland.  I've not found a non-Wiki source, since the cites in the Danish Realm article tend to be in Danish, Faeroe or Greenlandic.  However, if the Danish realm is unitary, that does mean Canada borders on Denmark, just as the Republic of Ireland borders on the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland).  As to the pre-Balfour example of Canada, Canada was never part of the United Kingdom, but Greenland does appear to be part of the Danish realm, for example, being directly subject to the Constitutional Act, and sending deputies to the Folketing. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 14:01, 24 July 2022 (UTC)


 * The Danish Realm is not a Unitary state. It consists of three countries under common foreign politics led by Denmark. The Danish article da:Rigsfællesskabet says it is not a commonwealth (which has countries on equal value), and not a federation (which has states on equal value). Maybe an asymmetric confederation. Usually when talking about Denmark, it does not include Greenland. According to Constitution of Denmark Greenland belongs to Denmark, but most power has been delegated to Greenlandic parliament. It is a little confusing, not really cleared out and has changed in one way formally (Greenland was given home rule in 1979), somewhat another way how it is seen by people. Non-self-governing country? Dependent territory? Similar to British Overseas Territories. Does United Kingdom border Spain? --BIL (talk) 16:10, 24 July 2022 (UTC)


 * I think we need a Wikipedian with expertise in Danish constitutional law. However, art. 1 of the Constitutional Act states that it applies to all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the commentary confirms that it applies to all three: Denmark, Faeroes and Greenland.  The self-government provisions for the Faeroes and Greenland appear to have been done by a statute of the Folketing, not by a constitutional provision, which sounds like the definition of a unitary state used in the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article:  Unitary State. Gibraltar and British Overseas Territories are not comparable examples, because they are not part of the United Kingdom.  However, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are considered four different countries within the UK, which sounds similar to the situation with the Danish realm.  Like the Faeroes and Greenland, the countries of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have devolved power from the Westminster Parliament.  They remain part of the UK, which is why we can say that the Republic of Ireland has a land border with the UK.  It seems that Denmark is the name of the both the European portion of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the overall name of the realm. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 16:34, 24 July 2022 (UTC)
 * TBD, I'm not certain which to use. GoodDay (talk) 05:36, 2 August 2022 (UTC)

"Canada–Greenland border" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Canada–Greenland border and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 September 8 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. MB 20:34, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Sources for treaty ratification?
In edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hans_Island&oldid=1128925569) the text was changed from "the treaty will take effect" to "the treaty took effect" – however, no sources were added to substantiate the claim. Having done some searching of both the Parliament of Canada's and the Folketing's websites today, I have not found any evidence that either country has formally ratified the treaty.

As far as I am aware all four entities (the Parliament of Canada, the Danish Folketing, the Parliament of Greenland and the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut) must ratify the treaty before it officially comes into force.

I suggest the text be returned to future tense until the treaty is formally adopted by all parties (and authoritative sources are added to this page) Da.mappr (talk) 01:51, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Treaty Ratification
The Parliament of Canada isn't normally involved in the Ratification of Treaties (See Library of Parliament Backrounder, it's an executive branch only thing, and Territorial Governments have nothing to do with them. So adding dubious to them being required for it to come into force. WanukeX (talk) 22:50, 29 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Right, found it, the treaty was tabled in the Canadian House of Commons on April 25th under the standard procedure. Canadian Parliamentary Approval was not required. WanukeX (talk) 23:00, 29 May 2023 (UTC)