In honor of the day
Jul. 1st, 2009 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinHappy Canada Day, everyone!
Canada Day always puts me in mind of the couple of times I spent it at the celebrations in Ottawa, among proud people who, if we were all sufficiently fortified with fine Canadian beers, were eager to educate me at length on the USA's 20th century contingency plans to invade Canada and the whupping Canada gave my native land in the War of 1812.
Anyway, in that vein, here is an interesting list of areas disputed by Canada and the United States.
I have no opinion on the merits of any of these claims. Most of the disagreements are over maritime borders or the status of various waters, but Machias Seal Island and North Rock between Maine and New Brunswick are actually disputed pieces of land, the larger of which is a popular birdwatching destination (it has puffins). I think this is the only land contested by Canada and the US. Recent diplomatic activity concerning the area seems to have been carefully crafted to make no particular attempt to resolve the issue.
I was actually inspired to look this up after reading this Strange Maps post on Bir Tawil, the only area in the world known to be disclaimed by both sides in a boundary dispute.
Canada Day always puts me in mind of the couple of times I spent it at the celebrations in Ottawa, among proud people who, if we were all sufficiently fortified with fine Canadian beers, were eager to educate me at length on the USA's 20th century contingency plans to invade Canada and the whupping Canada gave my native land in the War of 1812.
Anyway, in that vein, here is an interesting list of areas disputed by Canada and the United States.
I have no opinion on the merits of any of these claims. Most of the disagreements are over maritime borders or the status of various waters, but Machias Seal Island and North Rock between Maine and New Brunswick are actually disputed pieces of land, the larger of which is a popular birdwatching destination (it has puffins). I think this is the only land contested by Canada and the US. Recent diplomatic activity concerning the area seems to have been carefully crafted to make no particular attempt to resolve the issue.
I was actually inspired to look this up after reading this Strange Maps post on Bir Tawil, the only area in the world known to be disclaimed by both sides in a boundary dispute.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 07:34 am (UTC)It's comparable to another anomaly, the "Northwest Angle," a bit of Minnesota that is the only part of the Contiguous US States that is above the 49th parallel. It's a larger area than Point Roberts, and thanks to a lake in teh region, it too is not connected by American land to the rest of America.
On the way back from Victoria, by the way, we opted for the ferry from Sidney BC to Anacortes, WA, via Friday Harbor on San Juan Is. (USA), which is where the Pig War occurred, an historical border dispute (in fact a dispute over a British Pig that consumed some American crops and was therefore killed and eaten by the American farmer. I used to go yachting with my grandparents, and one of my favorite spots in the San Juans was Garrison Bay in the north end of San Juan Is, where the British troops were garrisoned. (Following the pig's demise, no shots were fired.) It's a state park now, and the one place where the British flag is flown over American soil.