Canada-U.S. border not as boring as you may think

Video

Geography may not have been your favourite class growing up but there is a whole lot more to the space that divides Canada and the United States than a mundane bunch of trees. There are so many interesting oddities, in fact, that YouTube educational channel CGP Grey has decided to fill us in.

In a five minute video, the narrator highlights the wacky, bizarre, and just plain silly aspects of the world’s longest undefended border. The video has been watched over six million times since its release a few years ago.

Made up of a vast “no touching zone,” the border is made up of over 8,000 markers and follows a vague, zigzagging line through the two countries. The “no touching zone” is six metres wide and almost 9,000 kilometres long, making up one of the most deforested areas in the world.

What’s more, the video also highlights the historical oddities as well. While that sentence alone may sound yawn-inducing, it is a bit more interesting than it seems. Land disputes, border crossings that run through lakes, and oddly-placed lighthouses combine to create a jumbled and widely unknown history between the two countries.