Hans Island sits on the boundary between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Denmark's Greenland. It 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.

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham sparked a hailstorm when he visited the barren patch of land on July 20 during a whirlwind tour of Canada's Arctic military outposts, hoping to harden Canada's claim to the far north, according to officials.

"His act of going there was consistent with the fact that Canada has always regarded the island as part of Canada," his spokesman said. "The minister is very committed to the north. Our defence policy articulated that our forces would be more active up there."

The Danes protested, telling Canada's ambassador that they "deplored the visit."

Graham countered: "It's Canada, and I went there just as I would have gone anywhere else in the Arctic."

Meanwhile, Canadians called for a boycott of Danish pastries similar to a US boycott of French goods when the country refused to support the US war in Iraq.

Others mused that an invasion force should go look for weapons of mass destruction hidden by the Danes. In fact, both countries buried bottles of alcohol on the island.

One activist proposed starting a revolution to "free Greenland from its Danish masters" while Canadian soldiers preparing to return home from Afghanistan, where temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius this week, quipped that their next assignment will likely be to patrol Hans Island, which typically hovers around minus 45 degree Celsius on a nice day.

The tussle even erupted online with unidentified groups not sanctioned by either government buying competing Google advertisements laying claims to the island.

"Does Hans sound Canadian? Danish name, Danish island," said one. Another directed users to a fluttering Maple Leaf flag and the sounds of Canada's national anthem.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail newspaper predicted Canada would win this conflict if it escalated into a brawl since Denmark is one of the few countries in the world that spends less on its military than Canada -- 3 billion US dollars versus 10.3 billion US dollars, respectively. And, Denmark has half as many troops as Canada.

Danes and Canadians have visited the island often to lay claim to it since 1973 when the border was drawn between Canada and Greenland.

In 2003, the crew of a frigate landed on the island and erected a Danish flag, insisting Denmark discovered it in 1852. As well, it is closer to Greenland than Canada and is therefore Danish soil, officials said.

Mid-July, Canadian forces erected a plaque, a Canadian flag and an Inuit stone marker called an inukshuk on the island to bolster Canada's position that it was discovered by the British and inherited in 1867 following Confederation.

Pundits believe that if Denmark fails to protect what many in Greenland consider to be rightfully their own, its relations with its giant overseas territory will be undermined, while Canada risks losing ground in a far more important dispute with the United States over the Beaufort Sea if it does not win this battle.

By mid-week, Denmark offered to negotiate. "This is just a small irritant that has unfortunately been blown all out of proportion and one that we'd like to resolve soon," said Denmark's ambassador to Ottawa, Poul Erik Dam Kristensen. Canada has not yet responded.

Others suggested building an ice hockey rink on the island to host a summit between the nations to decide its fate.

Despite losing the 2005 World Championship gold medal ice hockey game to the Czech Republic, Canada still holds the top spot in the men's rankings, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. Denmark is ranked 14th.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.