Far into the northernmost regions of our planet, in an Arctic channel between Canada and Greenland, lies a barren island of little more than a square kilometer in size. There’s practically nothing on it, except a weather station. No one lives here, there are no natural resources to speak of and it’s a very long way from civilisation as we know it.

But two countries have been arguing over it for decades. Canada and Denmark (which is responsible for defending Greenland) have never been able to decide who owns the place. It’s far from the only territory like it – in fact there are a surprising number of disputed islets and desolate rocks jutting out of the sea around the world. Why is their ownerships still an open question?