It’s true! Everyone thinks of Canada as a northern country, but Canada extends so far north and so far south that we cover more lines of latitude than any other country on earth!
On the eastern side of Canada, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are separated from the United States by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. One of the Great Lakes is Lake Erie, and the US/Canada border runs through the lake.
Point Pelee National Park, a small piece of Canada’s giant landmass, juts out into Lake Erie. The southernmost point of Point Pelee National Park is south of the 42nd parallel (42° N line of latitude). The 42nd parallel is also the northern Californian border!
The southernmost inhabited place in Canada is Pelee Island in Lake Erie.
The southernmost land in Canada is Middle Island, also in Lake Erie. (Nobody lives on the island. It’s just one big park.)
The southernmost point of Middle Island is at a latitude of 41°41’17″N. According to Wikipedia, twenty-seven U.S. states lie all or partly north of this point, as does Rome, Italy (Rome, Italy is at 41°54’0”N)
Vocabulary:
to cover
= to spread out over the surface of something or over an area
lines of latitude
=the imaginary lines that circle the earth parallel to the equator that are used to measure location and distance
to jut (out)
= to stick out, to go beyond the border, the edge, or the surface of something
the 42nd parallel
= a line of latitude, an imaginary line that goes around the earth, parallel to the equator
42° N = 42 lines of latitude north of the equator
inhabited
= people live there
southernmost
= as far south as you can go, the furthest to the south
Sources:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/index.aspx
http://www.pelee.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelee,_Ontario
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Island_(Lake_Erie)
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7165&site_id=1#import
Melanie is a TESL-certified English teacher. She lives near Toronto, Canada. Through her blog, videos, podcasts, and social media, she helps thousands of people around the world improve their English. She makes English a little less confusing and a little more fun! She also helps people understand Canadian and American culture. She believes that natural interaction with a native speaker helps people practice what they have learned and builds their confidence with English!
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