Module 8 · Canada in the world · Lecture 23

Borders, the Arctic and Canada's place on the globe

Name: Lecture 23: Borders, the Arctic and Canada's place on the globe
Uploaded: 2026-09-13
Description: The 8,891-kilometre line with the United States, the newest land border, with the Kingdom of Denmark across Tartupaluk, the Northwest Passage in official words, Canada's memberships, the coastline that depends on its map scale, and the thirty-by-2030 promise. Skill: boundary and maritime-zone maps.

The 8,891-kilometre line with the United States, the newest land border, with the Kingdom of Denmark across Tartupaluk, the Northwest Passage in official words, Canada's memberships, the coastline that depends on its map scale, and the thirty-by-2030 promise. Skill: boundary and maritime-zone maps.

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Test yourself

1. How long is the Canada-United States boundary, according to the International Boundary Commission? A. About five thousand kilometres B. About eight thousand nine hundred kilometres C. About twelve thousand kilometres D. About three thousand kilometres

The Commission puts the boundary at eight thousand eight hundred and ninety-one kilometres, about five thousand of them on land.

2. Which country became Canada's second land neighbour in twenty twenty-two? A. Russia B. France C. The Kingdom of Denmark D. The United States

Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark, with Greenland, divided Tartupaluk, Hans Island, in June twenty twenty-two, creating a land boundary.

3. What is Canada's stated position on the waters of the Northwest Passage? A. They are an international strait B. They are internal waters of Canada C. They are shared with the United States D. Canada takes no position

Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy of twenty twenty-four calls them internal waters of Canada by historic title; the United States disagrees, so the point is contested.

4. By the end of twenty twenty-five, what share of Canada's land and fresh water was conserved, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada? A. Thirty per cent B. Twenty-five per cent C. Eight per cent D. Fourteen per cent

Fourteen per cent of land and fresh water and fifteen and a half per cent of ocean were conserved, against a goal of thirty per cent by twenty thirty.

5. On the lettered boundary map, which lettered segment is the Alaska boundary? A. Letter A, running north and south along the one hundred and forty-first meridian B. Letter B, along the forty-ninth parallel C. Letter C, through the Great Lakes D. Letter D, along the Saint Croix River

The Alaska section follows the one hundred and forty-first meridian and the panhandle, about two thousand four hundred and seventy-five kilometres in all.

Transcript

The Peace Arch, on the lawn between Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington. Omar Haddad is forty-five, a Lebanese-Canadian customs broker from Surrey who crosses this line twice most days. His son Zain, twelve, has one foot in each country and one question: since when does Canada have a border with Denmark?

So here's the question. Where does Canada end, on land, at sea and in the ice, and who agrees with us about it?

The International Boundary Commission puts the Canada–United States boundary at 8,891 km, marked by more than eight thousand monuments. About 5,061 km of it is on land; the rest runs through lakes and rivers. The Alaska section is 2,475 km. It is often called the longest border in the world; the Commission does not say so.

Now the new one. On 14 June 2022, Global Affairs Canada announced that Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark, together with Greenland, had agreed to divide Tartupaluk, Hans Island, north of Ellesmere Island, after more than fifty years. That drew a land boundary across the island, giving Canada a second land neighbour, and settled the sea boundary out to 200 nautical miles.

Then the ice. Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy of 2024 states that the waters of the Arctic archipelago, including the channels of the Northwest Passage, are internal waters of Canada, by historic title. The United States takes a different view, treating the Passage as an international strait, so this course reports both: Canada's position, and the fact that it is contested. The Arctic Council brings together eight Arctic states and six Indigenous permanent participants.

Global Affairs Canada lists Canada as a founding member of NATO and a member of the G7 since 1976. Environment and Climate Change Canada reports that by the end of 2025, 14% of Canada's land and fresh water and 15.5% of its ocean were conserved, against a commitment of 30% by 2030; an interim target for 2025 was missed.

Find it on the map. This is a Natural Earth map of Canada's edges. The solid line is the land boundary with the United States; it turns to a dot-dash where it runs through the Great Lakes. Off every coast, the thin blue line is 200 nautical miles out. In the Arctic, the Northwest Passage routes are dashed: on an honest map, a dashed line means the parties disagree.

Let's change one fact. Melt the sea ice for the whole summer, every year. Ships would take the Passage, and the question of whose waters they sail in would stop being theoretical. This course adds no forecast to that; it repeats only the two positions: Canada says internal waters, the United States says international strait.

The mistake people make is saying Canada's only land neighbour is the United States. Since June 2022 there has been a second, the Kingdom of Denmark, across Tartupaluk. And about the coast those borders enclose: Statistics Canada puts it at 243,042 km, including the shores of more than fifty-two thousand islands. The finer the map, the longer the coastline, so any figure needs its map scale attached.

Here's the rule, in one breath. One long line on land, one short one on an Arctic island, a sea boundary 200 nautical miles out, and in the ice a position Canada states and its neighbour disputes.

This week, open the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas map from Environment and Climate Change Canada, find the protected area nearest your home, and note what kind it is: a national park, a provincial park, a conservation area, or something else.

Next time, the last lecture: the next map of Canada, what is changing, and a send-off.

← Lecture 22: The North: two fifths of the land, a third of one per cent of the people Lecture 24: The next map of Canada, and a send-off →

Free, independent course. Not an official resource of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or of any Ministry of Education. Facts are from Statistics Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada and other government sources, as dated in each lecture; figures change, so check the source for the latest. Maps are drawn from Natural Earth (public domain); photographs are from Wikimedia Commons under open licences, credited on the maps and photos page. Nora Beaulieu is an AI-generated presenter with a synthetic voice. Course content © 2026.