By the numbers
CBC News | Posted: May 12, 2009 9:22 PM | Last Updated: May 15, 2009
Here are a few statistics about the Canada-U.S. border, the longest non-militarized border in the world.
8,891
Kilometres the border stretches across land and water.
| Four U.S.-Canada border disputes |
|---|
| Dixon Entrance A strait between B.C. and Alaska about 80 kilometres long and wide in the Pacific Ocean, located between Clarence Strait in Alaska to the north and Hecate Strait into Queen Charlotte Islands in B.C. to the south. It's the main entry point for Prince Rupert, B.C. Beaufort Sea The two countries disagree who has sovereignty over part of this northern sea between the Yukon and Alaska due to oil and gas located below the water. Strait of Juan de Fuca Body of water connecting Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean between Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula, Wash. Ferries frequently travel across the strait between Port Angeles, Wash. and Victoria, B.C. Machias Seal Island A hunk of treeless rock located between the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine near Grand Manan Island, N.B., and Cutler, Maine. Canada has had a lighthouse there since 1832. |
2,477
Kilometres of border shared with Alaska alone.
1783
Year the Treaty of Paris was signed. Its description of the border running from the Atlantic Ocean to the Prairies between British North America and the American states would become the basis for today's border.
$576 billion
Approximate worth of goods crossing the border annually.
Over $1 million
Amount of trade between Canada and the U.S. every minute.
10-20
Minutes people typically wait at land border crossings.
45 and 49The border follows the 49th parallel from the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the West Coast to Lake of the Woods in Ontario/Minnesota and the 45th parallel between New England and Quebec.
24.2 million
Number of Canadians that made a same-day car trip to the U.S. in 2007.
Some border anomalies
Point Roberts: a peninsula that juts out into the Strait of Georgia on the West Coast, but the bottom half belongs to the state of Washington. Americans have to drive 45 minutes through B.C. to get to the American part of Point Roberts. A treaty signed on June 15,1855, between the British and the Americans drew the border along the 49th parallel across the peninsula, but the border was adjusted to include Vancouver Island as part of British territory.
The Northwest Angle:Minnesota's Northwest Angle (a peninsula attached to Manitoba) was created by accident due to mapmakers' vague conceptions of the origins of the Mississippi River. When the river turned up south of where they expected, the border dropped down too, leaving an isolated 390 square kilometre piece of the U.S. appended to Manitoba. About 100 Americans call that piece of land home.
11.2 million
Number of Americans who made a same-day car trip to Canada.
10.6 million
Number of Canadians that took overnight car trips to the U.S.
13.5 million
Number of trucks crossing the border each year.
90Per cent of Canadians who live within 160 kilometres of the U.S. border.
Less than 1 per cent
Proportion of travellers who cross the border and are considered high risk.
119
Land-border crossings managed by Canada Border Services Agency.
61
Land-border crossings operating 24/7.
6,400
The number of uniformed border services officers working at about 1,200 points across Canada in 2007-2008.
65 per cent
Number of trucks arriving in Canada daily that pass through southwestern Ontario border crossings.
6 million
The number of passenger vehicles crossing annually at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., the busiest land crossing.