American Town Trapped in Canada
Established by the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, this 4.7-square-mile peninsula lies south of the 49th parallel. Because it is surrounded by Canada and boundary waters, its 1,100 residents must drive through British Columbia and cross international borders twice to reach mainland Washington.
Chapter 1
Border blunders and geographical glitches
Chapter 2
Nature's optical illusions and strange landscapes
Chapter 3
Subterranean secrets and deep wonders
Chapter 4
Bizarre settlements and town name eccentricities
Ch 1 · Border blunders and geographical glitches
schopenhauer Border Blunders
We're reading books across the border line! (Yeah, Canada and the USA!)
schopenhauer An accidental river diversion in 1906 placed the American town of Rio Rico south of the Rio Grande, causing decades of legal confusion.
Fun Fact
Border lines: The border between the US and Canada is the longest undefended border in the world, stretching 5,525 miles.
schopenhauer The Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits directly on the border between Vermont and Quebec, serving two nations simultaneously.
Glossary
exclave (noun)
A portion of a country or territory geographically separated from the main part by surrounding foreign territory. The Northwest Angle became a U.S. exclave after surveyors misjudged the source of the Mississippi River.
A portion of a country or territory geographically separated from the main part by surrounding foreign territory. The Northwest Angle became a U.S. exclave after surveyors misjudged the source of the Mississippi River.
Quiz
Which US state contains the Northwest Angle, a piece of land accessible by road only through Canada?
BETA
schopenhauer Sort the map glitches to discover the strangest border blunders in North America.
Quiz
Which historic treaty signed in 1783 used a flawed map that accidentally created the Northwest Angle geographic anomaly?
Quiz
Which island in the St. Lawrence River is divided between the US and Canada, with the international boundary running through it?
Quiz
Which US town is located on the Tsawwassen Peninsula, requiring residents to drive through Canada to reach the rest of Washington state?
Quiz
What parallel of latitude serves as the primary border between western Canada and the contiguous United States?
Quiz
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the border of which two countries?
Quiz
In which Canadian province is the town of Stanstead, which shares a library and opera house with Derby Line, Vermont?
Quiz
In 1970, the United States officially ceded the town of Rio Rico to Mexico after which river's course was altered in 1906?