Talk:Canada – United States border

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[edit] Undefended?

Part of the US Coast Guard's core values is a duty to national defense. And they've armed their boats in the Great Lakes with machine guns. As well, DHS has three air bases which patrol parts of the border. It might be time to stop calling this undefended. kris 08:09, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Order of title

Is there an specfic reason it is entitled United State-Canada border, and not Canda-United States border?--Jjcarroll 22:56, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

No, but it seems we've got to pick one (and, with everything, by sheer weight of population, it's likely that the article was named by someone in the US). There should be a redirect from Canada-United States border, if there isn't already. CDC (talk) 23:01, 17 May 2005 (UTC)
If there is a need to pick one, perhaps ordering by alphabetical order will be far less contentious in the long run. I note this when noticing User:Aiman abmajid creating Malaysia-biased articles such as Malaysia-Thailand Border, along with his intentions to create Malaysia-Brunei Border, Malaysia-Indonesia Border, etc if one goes by the content in the first article.--Huaiwei 22:46, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

I have moved this to the alphabetical Canada-United States border. E Pluribus Anthony | talk | 16:17, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Page move rationale

I've moved this page from United States-Canadian Border to United States-Canada border to make "border" lowercase, because it's not a proper noun, and to make "United States" and "Canada" match; "United States-Canadian" mixes a noun and an adjective. CDC (talk) 23:01, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

While I agree there are other "international boundaries" in the world besides this border, the official name is the "International Boundary", as established in various laws in both countries, and by the establishment of the "International Boundary Commission". Are any other "international boundaries" in the world established in similar ways, giving the formal and legal name to their border "International Boundary"?
Furthermore, most cadastral systems and official surveys of property in states and provinces bordering the International Boundary, refer to it by its official name. Why not call it International Boundary (Canada-United States) (keeping the countries in alphabetical order, or adopting the current naming order International Boundary (United States-Canada)? Another option would be to have a disambiguation page for International boundary (disambiguation) or International Boundary (disambiguation). Just some of the many options we have available.
Why borrow trouble? There's already an International Boundary page which seemingly doesn't need disambiguation. RussNelson 13:29, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
I think it's highly educational for many uninformed readers to see that the "United States-Canada border" or "Canada-United States border" so popularly referred to in media and pop culture actually has a historic legal name. Plasma east 18:40, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Why does International Boundary redirect here? "International Boundary" could refer to any boundary between nations, not just the US/Canada border, and therefore should re-direct to border. TiffaF 11:07, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Longest period?

I realize that "Longest undefended border" is a well-known phrase, but wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the Can-U.S. border is in fact the largest in the world? From the CIA factbook:

Rus-Kazakh 6,846 km,

Rus-Mongolia 3,485 km

Rus-China (southeast) 3,605 km,

China-Mongolia 4,677 km,

China-India 3,380 km

India-Bangladesh 4,053 km

Couldn't think of anything else that comes close. If you subtract Alaska from the Can-US total, Russia-Kazakhstan is longest. But surely there are no other countries that share the same total amount as do Canada and the United States. Marskell 15:18, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

I think you are probably right. The only one I could think of that is in the range of the ones you cited is Argentina-Chile 5,150 km. I've always heard that the Canada-US border is the longest undefended border, but it never occured to me that it may be the longest. Pfly 03:49, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

[edit] Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

  • Support as proponent. Cogito ergo sumo 04:05, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Support. Alphabetization is the least POV. Altho' I believe the en dash ("%E2%80%93" in the URL, rendered –) in the article title should be retained over the hyphen. --SigPig 07:38, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Mu! I unask the question, since I think it's better to use the official name of International Boundary, and have redirects from US-C and C-US. As it currently stands, International Boundary redirects here. RussNelson 13:27, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
    • Comment This is a very good point – not only is it neutral, this should actually appear in the article lead (and I will make this change). As the article title, though, I wonder if this might pose mild confusion (particularly for newbies) with the usual term of 'international boundary/border': would the title not have to be suffixed somehow (e.g., International Boundary (Canada-United States))?. (On another note: I'm also indifferent regarding the dash, with mild preference for the simpler dash (-) only for simplicity.) If a consensus supports a move to alternates, though, who am I to argue? :) Cogito ergo sumo 15:26, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
    • Comment Since there's already a International Boundary article which so far hasn't needed disambiguation, I suggest that we let sleeping articles lie. RussNelson 02:23, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
      • Comment. That article was awakened and is now a redirect to "United States-Canada border". --SigPig 03:48, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Support per nom. --Húsönd 17:19, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
  • I suggest UNITED STATES-canada Border just to show who's boss. Marskell 17:48, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Either title is the same. Passer-by 21:27, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

Add any additional comments

[edit] Strait of Juan de Fuca

What exactly is the dispute here? Can't find any information on it anywhere. --Lukobe 09:16, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I removed it.--Planetary 00:22, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reason for not pre-screening Canadian-bound passengers

Regarding this statement: "Canada does not maintain equivalent personnel at U.S. airports due to the sheer number of destinations served by Canadian airlines and the limited number of flights compared to the number of US-bound flights that depart major Canadian airports."

Is this statement hinting that it doesn't make financial sense to do this? Even if that is the case why wouldn't Canada Customs maintain staff in for example, the top 3 airports with Canadian departures? I think the section "Other border crossings (airports, seaports)" needs at least one reference to back up this statement. DRead 19:57, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Great Britain?

This article references Great Britain which is a big island off the coast of Western Europe. I believe the reference ought to be to the United Kingdom: more specifically, for the purposes of this document, the Kingdom of Great Britain and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. I have changed the text accordingly. Bazza 12:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] There should be a list of land crossings

There sould be a list by Province and/or State of the land border crossings between the two countries. All of the major entry points and the smaller ones should be included. Maybe the ten biggest can be ranked as such in terms of taffic passing through them. Sirtrebuchet 23:31, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Instead of deleting the minor crossings or deleting the crossings that happen to not contain a bridge or tunnel, perhaps a separate article listing the crossings would be appropriate. For instance, the I-29/MB 75(MB 29) crossing near Pembina is probably the most significant crossing between the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge and at least the Interstate 15/Alberta provincial highway 4 crossing near Sweetgrass, Montana, if not western Washington/British Columbia. If crossings are to be listed, the major ones should be considered, and if no one objects, all road crossings can be listed elsewhere. Thanks. Ufwuct 16:21, 27 November 2006 (UTC)


There does exsist a list on just this subject. See List of Canada-United States border crossings. I added a list of the Canadian names of all the border crossings between Canada and the U.S. to the talk page on this article. It could use some help in the completion of the list. It could use some help in being devoloped. Sirtrebuchet 04:39, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Definition

I'm surprised the article doesn't define the border. River borders of U.S. states and this site have information on this should someone want to describe the border. Calbaer 23:59, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] International Boundary Commission should have its own article

I think that the International Boundary Commission is important enough to have its own article and not simply be mentioned here. See here for details on the International Boundary Commission Sirtrebuchet 20:07, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I actually came to this page looking for info about the IBC and was disappointed to see that it was only mentioned in this article about the border and did not have it's own page. Vbidez 18:41, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Correcting the meme.

Two things:

  • Per long-standing precedent that simple calculations are not OR, I think we are able to state that the Canada-US border is the longest in the world; see thread a few up with Factbook info.
  • Is it the longest "unmilitarized" border in the world? This claims the Rus-Khazak border is now "transparent". This, meanwhile, claims the Rus-Khazak border is also the "largest land border" in the world. Both note 7,500 km, which is 650km more than CIA figure. The Can-US total (incl. Alaska) is larger in either case, but the Rus-Khazak border is the largest contiguous boundary near as I can tell; thus it could be called the longest undefended border as well. Marskell 11:07, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Photos

I don't want to step on any toes here, but we have three out of three photographs (as well as a graphic) depicting the border between British Columbia and Washington. That is the sum of the visual content Might we not throw in the Ambassador Bridge or some other evidence of a border east of the Continental Divide and remove the Peace Arch photo? If I hear no objections, I will be bold. Fishhead64 07:06, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest leaving the Peace Arch but replacing the photo of the boundary markers.Dtbrown 01:28, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I edited the Airports

I could not find evidence stating that Saskatoon and Kelowna airports had U.S Preclearance, so I deleted them from the article.

[edit] X% of Canadians live within Y km or mi or hours of the US border

E.g. "90% of Canadians live within 100 mi of the US border." The numbers quoted seem to vary quite a bit between different web pages. Can we find an authoritative source for this?

Some notes trying to estimate by myself:

  • 1 degree of latitude = 111 km = 69 miles
  • As a very quick approximation, most residents of BC, MA, ON, QC, NB live within this distance of the border, and most residents of AB, SK, NS, PE, NL, NT, NU, YT do not. About 18.5% of the population live in the second group.
  • Doubling the distance only adds Regina, SK among major cities. Calgary and Halifax are just beyond this distance and should be within 250 km or 150 miles. (straight line)
  • 200 mi probably excludes half of AB and SK, and all of NT, NU, NL, but very little of other provinces' population. This is around 7.5%.
  • Edmonton is about 4.5 degrees (500 km, 310 mi) north of the border, and its metro area has a population just over 1 million. Only NT, NU, NL are farther away than this, and they total around 580,000 people. This is about 5.0% outside a distance just excluding Edmonton, and about 1.7% outside a distance just including Edmonton. Biggest Alberta town north of Edmonton CMA is Grande Prairie with about 50,000 or 0.15% of national population.

--JWB 06:33, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Move due to bad style concerns

According to the Manual of Style's section about en-dashes,

"All disjunctive en dashes are unspaced, except when there is a space within either or both of the items (the New York – Sydney flight; the New Zealand – South Africa grand final; July 3, 1888 – August 18, 1940, but July–August 1940)."

The title of this article, "Canada–United States border", is is in clear violation of this guideline, which is followed by the Naming conventions and which makes perfect sense regarding the good appearance of text anyway. I have thus decided to move the article, as well as several others suffering from the same problem, in this case to "Canada – United States border". A redirect shall be created and properly tagged, so that the article will still be searchable and linkable in its previous version, and I will change as many incoming links as possible. Waltham, The Duke of 22:41, 4 March 2008 (UTC)