Meet Me at the Border Between Canada and France
Yes—Saint Pierre and Miquelon are French islands in North America.
Commonly used, yet unofficial flag of the French Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, where the only legal flag is the French Tricolor.
Most people would never imagine that France still has a border in North America.
But it does.
Just off the coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador lies a small archipelago that belongs not to Canada, but to France. The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are the last remaining fragment of what was once France’s vast North American empire.
Centuries ago, French territories stretched across huge parts of the continent under the banner of New France. From the Gulf of America to the Great Lakes and deep into the Mississippi Valley, French explorers, traders, and settlers once shaped the map of North America.
Today, only these two small islands remain.
Yet they are unmistakably French.
Residents use the euro, not Canadian dollars. The official language is French. The French Tricolor flies above government buildings, and the islands are governed directly from Paris as an Overseas Collectivity of the French Republic.
The proximity to Canada makes the geography even more striking. From the nearby Canadian coast, it takes less than an hour by boat to reach what is, politically speaking, a piece of France.
You can quite literally sail from North America to Europe before finishing your morning coffee. How about that?
It is one of those quiet geographic curiosities that remind us how history leaves traces in the most unexpected places.
Sometimes, the map still carries the echoes of old empires—if you know where to look for them. Especially in your backyard.
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Wow, good stuff this!