Canada’s International Border(s)

So a burning question keeps coming up on the site. “What is Canada’s only international border?”

Single-time visitors of Twelve Mile Circle seem acutely interested in Canada’s international borders. My web logs register variations of this Search Engine query probably daily. Sometimes this comes up — I think — as a trick question on trivia quizzes or contests. Maybe it’s part of a school geography class homework assignment. It’s difficult to tell. However, highly specific phrasings do tend to arrive in clusters if that’s any indication.

So the answer hinges upon the definition of an international border. Does it apply exclusively to land borders or do water borders qualify too?


Canadian Land Borders

This is the easy one. Canada shares an international land border with only one other country, the United States. It is the longest border in the world at 8,891 kilometres / 5,525 miles. Some 5,061 km. / 3,145 mi. of it crosses solid land and the International Boundary Commission marks it with monuments. Another 3,830 km. / 2,380 mi. crosses water, as defined by unmarked turning points or parallels of latitude.

Two segments form this lengthy border. The “smaller” segment runs between Canada and the U.S. exclave of Alaska for 2,475 km (1,538 mi). Canada is the largest nation that shares a land border with only one other nation, hands down, no contest. The International Boundary Commission keeps it all neat and tidy.


Canadian Sea Borders

Canada shares sea borders with two nations other than the United States.

France

I’ve written about the French Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) previously. To briefly review, these islands just off the coast of Newfoundland are the sole remnant of the vast North American colony of New France still under French control today (map).

St. Pierre and Miguelon. Photo by Ian Gratton; (CC BY 2.0)

They sit as close as 10 km. / 6.2 mi. from dry Canadian land (Green Island). Thus, its territorial waters most definitely abut Canadian waters.

Denmark

Canada also shares a water boundary with Denmark along the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This answer may change in the future. Greenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark but it has been progressing steadily towards full independence.

Denmark and Canada agree on on all boundary distinctions except for one small residual issue, the ownership of Hans Island. It’s just a speck. However, both nations claim it. As with most of these types of disputes it has little to do with the land and much to do with the natural resources that may be hiding in surrounding waters.

CBC News explains [article no longer available on the Internet]:

“As far as border disputes go, this one’s pretty lame. No green line separating antagonists, no Demilitarized Zones and no patriots dashing past guard posts to plant flags in a desperate attempt to reclaim land seized by invading armies. Yet, every once in a while, someone will stop by a frozen hunk of rock about 1,100 kilometres south of the North Pole between Greenland and Ellesmere Island and leave either a Canadian or Danish flag and bury either a bottle of rye or a bottle of brandy – and claim the 1.3-square-kilometre Hans Island for either Canada or Denmark.”

For a geo-oddities aficionado such as myself, I propose an easy solution. Split the island between Canada and Denmark to create a true land border. This 1.5 km boundary would become an instant classic for geographic trivia contests everywhere. I could even imagine travel and tourism opportunities that would help bolster the economies of small Inuit communities in these remote lands.

Comments

10 responses to “Canada’s International Border(s)”

  1. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    Is it safe to say that Saint Pierre et Miquelon is a part of France in the same way Hawai’i is part of the US, or is the relationship a bit more distant between the islands and the French homeland?

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      It’s not a département but it’s not a simple territory either. I’m not sure it’s directly analogous to anything in the United States. We have at least one regular reader who resides in France who can hopefully describe this arrangement better than I.

  2. Mike Lowe Avatar

    I was thinking of this topic a few days ago. Get out of my head! It’s _my_ brain. 🙂

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      You must be connected to the greater collective consciousness. Usually I come up with my own topics, but this one came from all the people who’ve been using Google seeking an answer lately. Maybe Google is tied into your brain <<shudder>>. 😉

  3. Thomas Avatar

    Do you know what purpose the buried bottle of rye or brandy serves (from the CBC quote)? Is it used to check whether someone from the claimant actually knows what’s buried?

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      Other than serving as a tangible reminder that they stopped by, I have no idea. I imagine a buried bottle may have a little more lasting power than a flag sitting atop a barren rock in a very hostile environment. Your guess is as good as mine, though.

  4. Anton Sherwood Avatar

    One would hope that once in a while somebody drops by with – say – a Jamaican flag and an ounce of ganja.

  5. Doug R. Avatar
    Doug R.

    It’s interesting that the map mode of google maps doesn’t show the island, but just the Satellite mode. Maybe it’s due to that Canadian-Danish geopolitical hotbed of controversy!

  6. Lincoln Ho Avatar

    On maps from 1992 given to citizenship candidates, the Canadian border extended to the North Pole along lines of longtitude. If that is the case and other countries did the same, it may share a point with countries like Russia.

  7. carlo alberto Avatar
    carlo alberto

    I want to travel from greenland to canada what they ask at the moment to cross whitch way is more easier.

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