Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Point Roberts, Whatcom, Washington, USA
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Description area
Dates of existence
15.6.1846 -
History
Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of the United States on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The area, which had a population of 1,314 at the 2010 census, is reached by land by traveling 25 mi (40 km) through Canada. It is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whatcom County, Washington with a post office, and a ZIP Code of 98281.[2] Direct sea and air connections with the U.S. are available across Boundary Bay.
Point Roberts was created when the United Kingdom and the United States settled the Pacific Northwest American-Canadian border dispute in the mid-19th century with the Oregon Treaty. Both parties agreed the 49th parallel would delineate both countries' territories, but they overlooked the small area that incorporates Point Roberts (south of the 49th parallel). Questions about ceding the territory to the United Kingdom and later to Canada have been raised since its creation but its status has remained unchanged.
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Point Roberts is a U.S. exclave bordered by Canada and the waters of Boundary Bay. It is 22 miles (35 km) south of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Point Roberts is part of the U.S. because it lies south of the 49th parallel, which constitutes the Canada–US border in that area. Other exclaves of this type include the U.S. state of Alaska, parts of Minnesota such as the Northwest Angle and Elm Point, Minnesota. Alburgh, Vermont and nearby Province Point are separated from the rest of the U.S. by Lake Champlain, though Alburgh is reachable by highway bridge from "mainland" Vermont.
Point Roberts borders the municipality of Delta in British Columbia. Boundary Bay lies to the east of Point Roberts and the Strait of Georgia to the south and west. The U.S. portion of the peninsula is about 2 miles (3 km) from north to south and about 3 miles (5 km) from east to west. It has an area of 4.884 square miles (12.65 km2).
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General context
The first Europeans to see Point Roberts were members of the 1791 expedition of Francisco de Eliza. The maps produced from Eliza's explorations depicted Point Roberts as "Isla de Cepeda" or "Isla de Zepeda."[3][4] In 1792 the British expedition of George Vancouver and the Spanish expedition of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano encountered one another near Point Roberts. In the morning of June 13, 1792, the two ships under Galiano sailed into Boundary Bay and verified Point Roberts was not an island, which was thus renamed Punta Cepeda. They then sailed around Point Roberts and immediately encountered HMS Chatham, the second ship of Vancouver's expedition. The two parties made contact and agreed to share information and work together in mapping the Strait of Georgia.[5]
Point Roberts acquired its present name from Vancouver, who named it after his friend Henry Roberts, who had originally been given command of the expedition.[6] Point Roberts assumed its present political status in 1846, when the Oregon Treaty extended the 49th parallel as the boundary between U.S. and British territory from the Rocky Mountains to Georgia Strait.
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Language(s)
- Icelandic