They say good fences make good neighbours, but does our border with the United States qualify as a "good fence"? It's definitely long, but it looks a little wonky.

CGP Grey, maker of entertaining and informative YouTube videos, has created a fascinating explanation of why the border between Canada and the U.S. is where it is - and why it's just not straight.

The video gets into the history of how the border - which Grey calls "the no-touching zone" - was created, the way less-than-ideal maps led to some awkward decisions, why Vancouver Island isn't half-American, and how a couple of islands are still disputed territory to this day.

Although it's pretty easy to draw a straight line on a map, the realities of geography and the limitations of GPS technology in the 19th century made it a lot harder to keep things even in the real world.

That's why our border is actually made up of about 900 different zig-zaggy lines, and it's also responsible for some oddities here and there.

The video's well worth a look.

Via Digg

And if you'd like to learn a little more about the untold history of this country, check out some of our "Something You Might Not Know About Canada" videos.

David Chilton on Canada's Infrastructure
Chuck Hughes on Poutine
Gerry Dee on the Pirate of the St. Lawrence
Kathleen Robertson on the McIntosh Apple
Cassie Campbell-Pascal on The Stanley Cup.

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