Boundaries

BOUNDARIES separate BC from the American states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south, from Alberta on the east, from the Northwest Territories and the Yukon on the north and from Alaska in the northwest. The southern boundary with the US stretches 640 km from AKAMINA PASS in the ROCKY MTS along the 49th parallel of latitude to the Pacific just south of TSAWWASSEN. There are 22 border crossings used by motor vehicles along the border with the US. The border continues westward out into GEORGIA STRAIT, where it veers south through the GULF ISLANDS and HARO STRAIT around the bottom of VANCOUVER ISLAND and out through the middle of JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT. The 49th parallel was accepted as the border in the OREGON TREATY (officially, the Treaty of Washington) in 1846 and was mapped by the British Boundary Commission from 1858 to 1862. The line through the Gulf Islands remained in dispute until it was settled by international arbitration in 1872 (see PIG WAR). Because of the border's southern dip, insisted on by British negotiators in order to keep southern Vancouver Island in British hands, ferries crossing Georgia Strait between ACTIVE PASS and Tsawwassen actually cut across American territory. The boundary with AB, 1,545 km long, snakes northwestward along the height of land in the ROCKY MTS until it meets the 120th meridian of longitude, at which point it turns directly north up the meridian as far as the 60th parallel of latitude. When BC was created as a colony in 1858 its northern border was defined rather vaguely by the STIKINE R and FINLAY R. A short-lived GOLD RUSH to the Stikine in 1862 prompted Britain to create the STIKINE TERRITORY north of the river to the 62nd parallel and east to the 125th meridian. The governor of BC was given jurisdiction. Then, in 1863, the boundary of the colony was extended to its present limits, absorbing most of the Stikine Territory. This border extends 1,062 km along the 60th parallel west to the extreme northwest corner of the province where Alaska, the Yukon and BC converge at Boundary Peak. The border with the Alaska Panhandle, 893 km long, was resolved in 1903 after many years of negotiation between Great Britain, Russia and the US (see ALASKA BOUNDARY DISPUTE).