The USA–Canada border is the longest in the world
A 8,891 km line so long that crews keep a 6-metre clearing cut through the wilderness just to mark it.
The boundary between Canada and the United States runs 8,891 kilometres (5,525 miles) — the longest international border between any two countries on Earth. It reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, then again from the Pacific up to the Arctic along the Alaska panhandle.
The line is governed by the International Boundary Commission, a permanent body that has maintained it since 1925. Its job isn’t just paperwork: the border is shown on 256 official maps and physically marked by thousands of monuments.
Where the boundary crosses forest, crews keep a 6-metre (20-foot) wide “vista” cleared of brush and trees — three metres on each side — so the line stays visible from monument to monument.
Despite its length, much of the frontier is unguarded wilderness. The clearing slicing dead-straight through northern forests is often the only visible sign that you’ve passed from one country to another.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
