The US-Canada border is the longest international border in the world: 5,525 miles (8,891 km) including Alaska. 13 US states touch it.
All 13 border states
| State | Code | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | AK | Juneau |
| Idaho | ID | Boise |
| Maine | ME | Augusta |
| Michigan | MI | Lansing |
| Minnesota | MN | Saint Paul |
| Montana | MT | Helena |
| New Hampshire | NH | Concord |
| New York | NY | Albany |
| North Dakota | ND | Bismarck |
| Ohio | OH | Columbus |
| Pennsylvania | PA | Harrisburg |
| Vermont | VT | Montpelier |
| Washington | WA | Olympia |
The border, east to west
The contiguous US-Canada border runs 3,987 miles from the Bay of Fundy (between Maine and New Brunswick) to the Pacific (between Washington and British Columbia). It mostly follows the 49th parallel from Minnesota westward, with detours along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.
- Maine ↔ New Brunswick + Quebec. A jagged border full of rivers and lakes. ~600 miles.
- New Hampshire + Vermont ↔ Quebec. Short stretches, both right at the 45th parallel.
- New York ↔ Quebec + Ontario. Runs along Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River.
- Pennsylvania + Ohio ↔ Ontario. Across Lake Erie (lake border, not land).
- Michigan ↔ Ontario. The Detroit-Windsor crossing (Ambassador Bridge) is one of the busiest commercial crossings on Earth.
- Minnesota ↔ Ontario + Manitoba. Lakes, forests, and the Northwest Angle, a chunk of Minnesota only reachable from Canada.
- North Dakota ↔ Manitoba + Saskatchewan. Mostly the 49th parallel, dead straight.
- Montana ↔ Saskatchewan + Alberta. The longest stretch of the contiguous-48 border, ~545 miles.
- Idaho ↔ British Columbia. Short ~45-mile stretch.
- Washington ↔ British Columbia. ~427 miles. Includes the Peace Arch crossing, a popular tourist landmark.
- Alaska ↔ Yukon + British Columbia. ~1,538 miles. Mostly the 141st meridian; established by the 1825 Anglo-Russian Treaty.
Northwest Angle: the weird one
The Northwest Angle is a small piece of Minnesota (about 150 sq mi, population ~120) that is only reachable from the rest of the US by passing through Manitoba, or by boat across Lake of the Woods. It's the northernmost point in the contiguous 48 states. It exists because of an 18th-century mapping error during the 1783 Treaty of Paris that assumed the Mississippi River extended further north than it does.
Border crossings worth knowing
- Ambassador Bridge (Detroit, MI ↔ Windsor, ON), busiest commercial crossing in North America.
- Peace Arch (Blaine, WA ↔ Surrey, BC), iconic monument, popular tourist crossing.
- Thousand Islands Bridge (NY ↔ ON), spans the Saint Lawrence River.
- Beaver Creek (Alaska ↔ Yukon), westernmost border crossing in North America.
Border constraints in Statedoku
"Borders Canada" is one of the most useful constraints, it narrows the puzzle to just 13 states. Try the daily puzzle.
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