Prompt Cast
US-Canadian Border: Disputes and Irregularities
TLDR The US-Canadian border, the longest non-militarized and non-fenced border in the world, has several outstanding disputes including the Northwest Passage and the border in the Beaufort Sea. There are also unique locations and surveying errors that cause deviations in the border, as well as a land dispute over Micah Seal Island.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The US-Canadian border is the longest non-militarized and non-fenced border in the world, with many irregularities and disputes.
01:56
There are at least five outstanding border disputes between the US and Canada, including the Northwest Passage and a disagreement over the border in the Beaufort Sea.
03:38
The US and Canada have a border dispute over the sea boundary in the Dixon Entrance and the location of the border in the Portland Canal.
05:23
The 49th parallel was chosen as the border between the US and Canada in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 and the Oregon Treaty of 1846, but there is a small peninsula called Point Roberts in Washington that juts below the 49th parallel and was not accounted for in the original treaty negotiations.
07:13
The US-Canadian border deviates north or south by as much as 300 meters due to surveying errors, and there are unique locations such as the International Peace Garden and the Piney Pine Creek Border Airport that straddle the border.
09:01
The US-Canadian border follows rivers and lakes until it reaches the Great Lakes, then goes down the middle of the lakes and rivers until Cornwall, Ontario, where it goes inland and turns flat again, and there are various border oddities such as Cornwall Island and the library/opera house in Derby Line, Vermont.
10:43
Micah Seal Island, located in the Bay of Fundy, is a land dispute between the United States and Canada, with both countries claiming it despite no human inhabitants, and Canada maintaining a presence on the island for sovereignty purposes.
