View source for 49th parallel north

{{short description|Circle of latitude}}
{{About|the circle of latitude in the northern hemisphere|other uses|49th parallel (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} 
{{Location map-line|lat=49}}

The '''49th parallel north''' is a [[circle of latitude]] that is 49[[degree (angle)|°]] [[true north|north]] of [[Earth]]'s [[equator]]. It crosses [[Europe]], [[Asia]], the [[Pacific Ocean]], [[North America]], and the [[Atlantic Ocean]].

The city of [[Paris]] is about {{convert|15|km|0|abbr=off}} south of the 49th parallel and is the largest city between the [[48th parallel north|48th]] and 49th parallels. Its main airport, [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]], lies on the 49th parallel.

Roughly {{convert|2030|km|-1|abbr=off}}<!-- length found at wikilink [[Canada–United States border#Border lengths]]:: not all of BC's land border is on the 49th (don't include Alaska!) --><ref>{{citation|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/a-not-so-straight-story/?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=EDA45B7961C583627809CAC1AFB872C3&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL|date=28 November 2011|last=Jacobs|first=Frank|work=New York Times|title=The Not-So-Straight Story of the U.S.-Canadian Border|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref> of the [[Canada–United States border]] was designated to follow the 49th parallel from [[British Columbia]] to [[Manitoba]] on the [[Canada]] side, and from [[Washington (state)|Washington]] to [[Minnesota]] on the [[United States|U.S.]] side, more specifically from the [[Strait of Georgia]] to the [[Lake of the Woods]]. This [[Border|international border]] was specified in the [[Anglo-American Convention of 1818]] and the [[Oregon Treaty]] of 1846, though survey markers placed in the 19th century cause the border to deviate from the 49th parallel by up to {{convert|810|m|mi|3|abbr=off}}.

From a point on the ground at this latitude, the [[sun]] is above the horizon for 16 hours, 12 minutes during the [[summer solstice]] and 8 hours, 14 minutes during the [[winter solstice]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-24|title=Duration of Daylight/Darkness Table for One Year|url=http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Dur_OneYear.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012094319/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Dur_OneYear.php|archive-date=2019-10-12|access-date=2021-03-10|website=U.S. Naval Observatory}}</ref>

This latitude also roughly corresponds to the minimum latitude in which [[astronomical twilight]] can last all night near the summer solstice. All-night astronomical twilight lasts about from June&nbsp;9 to July&nbsp;2.<ref>{{Cite web|title=49°00′N, 45°00′E — Sunrise, Sunset, and Daylength, June 2024|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@49,45?month=6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=49°00′N, 45°00′E — Sunrise, Sunset, and Daylength, July 2024|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@49,45?month=7}}</ref> At [[midnight]] on the summer solstice, the altitude of the sun is about −17.56°.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Planets Visible in the Night Sky in 49°00′N, 45°00′E|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/@49,45}}</ref>

Slightly less than one-eighth of the Earth's surface is north of the 49th parallel.

== Around the world ==
{{kml}}

[[File:European countries above 49th parallel.png|thumb|250px|European countries entirely north of 49°&nbsp;N]]

Starting at the [[Prime Meridian]] and heading eastwards, the parallel 49° north passes through:

:{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col" width="130" | Coordinates
! scope="col" | Country, territory or sea
! scope="col" | Notes
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|0|0|E|type:landmark|name=Prime Meridian}}
! scope="row" | {{FRA}}
| [[Normandy]]<br/> [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]] – crossing a runway of [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]]<br/> [[Hauts-de-France]]<br/> [[Grand Est]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|8|4|E|type:country|name=Germany}}
! scope="row" | {{DEU}}
| [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]<br/> [[Baden-Württemberg]] – passing through [[Karlsruhe]]<br/> [[Bavaria]] – passing through [[Regensburg]]
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|13|24|E|type:country|name=Czech Republic}}
! scope="row" | {{CZE}}
|Passing just north of [[České Budějovice]]
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|15|0|E|type:country|name=Austria}}
! scope="row" | {{AUT}}
| For about {{convert|4.8|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|15|4|E|type:country|name=Czech Republic}}
! scope="row" | {{CZE}}
| For about {{convert|5|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|15|8|E|type:country|name=Austria}}
! scope="row" | {{AUT}}
| For about 120 m
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|15|8|E|type:country|name=Czech Republic}}
! scope="row" | {{CZE}}
|
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|17|57|E|type:country|name=Slovakia}}
! scope="row" | {{SVK}}
| [[Trenčín Region]] <br/> [[Žilina Region]] <br/> [[Prešov Region]] (passing through [[Prešov]] city centre)
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|22|32|E|type:country|name=Ukraine}}
! scope="row" | {{UKR}}
| [[Zakarpattia Oblast]]<br>[[Lviv Oblast]]<br>[[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast]] – passing through [[Bolekhiv]] and [[Kolomyia]]<br>[[Ternopil Oblast]] – passing just south of [[Chortkiv]]<br>[[Khmelnytskyi Oblast]]<br>[[Vinnytsia Oblast]] – passing just south of [[Zhmerynka]]<br>[[Cherkassy Oblast]] – passing through [[Shpola]]<br>[[Kirovohrad Oblast]]<br>[[Poltava Oblast]] – passing just through [[Kremenchuk]] and [[Horishni Plavni]]<br>[[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast]]<br>[[Kharkiv Oblast]]<br>[[Donetsk Oblast]] – passing just through [[Lyman, Ukraine|Lyman]]<br>[[Luhanska Oblast]] – passing through [[Rubizhne]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|39|42|E|type:country|name=Russia}}
! scope="row" | {{RUS}}
| [[Rostov Oblast]]<br/> [[Volgograd Oblast]]
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|46|55|E|type:country|name=Kazakhstan}}
! scope="row" | {{KAZ}}
|
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|86|44|E|type:country|name=China}}
! scope="row" | {{CHN}}
| [[Xinjiang]]
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|87|55|E|type:country|name=Mongolia}}
! scope="row" | {{MNG}}
|
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|116|8|E|type:country|name=China}}
! scope="row" | {{CHN}}
| [[Inner Mongolia]]<br/> [[Heilongjiang]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|130|0|E|type:country|name=Russia}}
! scope="row" | {{RUS}}
| [[Amur Oblast]]<br/> [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]]<br/> [[Khabarovsk Krai]]
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|140|21|E|type:waterbody|name=Strait of Tartary}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Strait of Tartary]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|142|1|E|type:country|name=Russia}}
! scope="row" | {{RUS}}
| Island of [[Sakhalin]]
|-valign="top"
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|142|57|E|type:waterbody|name=Sea of Okhotsk}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Sea of Okhotsk]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Gulf of Patience]]
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|144|26|E|type:country|name=Russia}}
! scope="row" | {{RUS}}
| Island of [[Sakhalin]]
|-valign="top"
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|144|27|E|type:waterbody|name=Sea of Okhotsk}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Sea of Okhotsk]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing between the islands of [[Kharimkotan]] and [[Ekarma]] in {{RUS}}'s [[Kuril Islands|Kuril Island]] chain
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|154|22|E|type:waterbody|name=Pacific Ocean}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Pacific Ocean]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|125|41|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]] – [[Vancouver Island]], [[Thetis Island]] and [[Galiano Island]] – passing through [[Ladysmith, British Columbia|Ladysmith]]
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|123|34|W|type:waterbody|name=Strait of Georgia}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Strait of Georgia]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|123|5|W|type:country|name=United States, passing roughly 300 m south of the US/Canada border}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Washington (state)|Washington]] ([[Point Roberts]])
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|123|2|W|type:waterbody|name=Boundary Bay}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Boundary Bay]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Semiahmoo Bay]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|122|45|W|type:country|name=United States, passing slightly south of US/Canada border}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|121|56|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|121|25|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|120|11|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|119|49|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|117|18|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|116|28|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Idaho]], [[Montana]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|115|21|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|114|57|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Montana]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|114|12|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[British Columbia]], [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|109|41|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Montana]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|109|12|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Saskatchewan]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|107|22|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[Montana]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|106|55|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Saskatchewan]], [[Manitoba]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|98|58|W|type:country|name=United States}}
! scope="row" | {{USA}}
| [[North Dakota]], [[Minnesota]]
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|96|13|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Manitoba]]
|-valign="top"
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|95|17|W|type:waterbody|name=Lake of the Woods}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Lake of the Woods]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just south of [[Big Island (Lake of the Woods)|Big Island]] and [[Bigsby Island (Lake of the Woods)|Bigsby Island]], [[Ontario]], {{CAN}}
|-valign="top"
| {{Coord|49|0|N|94|25|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Ontario]] – passing just south of [[Nipigon]]<br/> [[Quebec]] – passing through [[Girardville, Quebec|Girardville]]
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|68|38|W|type:waterbody|name=St. Lawrence River}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[St. Lawrence River]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|66|58|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Quebec]] – [[Gaspé Peninsula]] – passing through [[Les Méchins, Quebec|Les Méchins]] and [[Gaspé, Quebec|Gaspé]]
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|64|24|W|type:waterbody|name=Gulf of St. Lawrence}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | Passing just south of [[Anticosti Island]], [[Quebec]], {{CAN}}
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|58|31|W|type:country|name=Canada}}
! scope="row" | {{CAN}}
| [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] – island of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] – passing through [[Pasadena, Newfoundland and Labrador|Pasadena]] and [[Bishop's Falls]]
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|53|44|W|type:waterbody|name=Atlantic Ocean}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Atlantic Ocean]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" |
|-
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | {{Coord|49|0|N|5|38|W|type:waterbody|name=English Channel}}
! scope="row" style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[English Channel]]
| style="background:#b0e0e6;" | [[Gulf of Saint-Malo]] – passing just south of the island of {{JEY}}
|-
| {{Coord|49|0|N|1|33|W|type:country|name=France}}
! scope="row" | {{FRA}}
| [[Normandy]]
|}

== Monuments on the parallel ==
[[File:Canada US border.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Peace Arch]] border]]
*In North America, the westernmost monument on the 49th parallel is the Point Roberts Boundary Monument near the corner of Marine Drive and Roosevelt Way in the [[Point Roberts, Washington|Point Roberts]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] exclave south of [[Delta, British Columbia|Delta]], [[British Columbia]].
*The [[Peace Arch]] is a large monument between [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey]], British Columbia, and [[Blaine, Washington|Blaine]], Washington. It is the centerpiece of [[Peace Arch Park]].
*[[Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park]] in Alberta and Montana
*The [[International Peace Garden]] is located at the border between [[Manitoba]] and [[North Dakota]], about midway between the nearby communities of [[Boissevain, Manitoba]] and [[Dunseith, North Dakota]]. Until its demolition in 2017, the [[International Peace Garden|Peace Tower]] stood at the focal point of the garden, on the border. As of 2018, a new tower is slated to be constructed on the spot.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dobbie |first1=Dorothy |title=International Peace Garden to Celebrate Its 85th Birthday |url=https://www.manitobapost.com/manitoba-news/international-peace-garden-to-celebrate-its-85th-birthday-113944 |access-date=14 May 2019 |date=18 March 2018}}</ref>
*The Stadtgarten in [[Karlsruhe]], Germany, marks the 49th parallel with a stone and painted line.
*Monument in the northern part of town centre, Prešov, Slovakia.
<gallery class="center">
File:Karlsruhe (01).JPG|49th parallel north in Karlsruhe
File:Karlsruhe (02).JPG|49th parallel north in Karlsruhe
File:Monument 49 Latitude Presov Slovakia.JPG|Monument marking the 49th parallel in Prešov
</gallery>

== Canada–United States border ==
{{Main|Canada–United States border}}
[[File:49 parallel waterton.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|49th parallel at [[Waterton Lake]], showing the cleared strip of land along the U.S./Canada border]]

=== History ===

In 1714, the Hudson's Bay Company proposed the 49th parallel as the western portion of the boundary between the company's land and French territory. At the time, Britain and France had agreed, in the [[Peace of Utrecht]], to negotiate a boundary, but negotiations ultimately failed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lass|first1=William E.|title=Minnesota's Boundary with Canada: Its Evolution Since 1783|year=1980|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wXAu-xA3y3gC&pg=PA28|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|isbn=978-0-87351-153-7}}</ref>

Following the [[Louisiana Purchase]] by the United States in 1803, it was generally agreed that the boundary between the new territory and [[British North America]] was along the [[Water divide|watershed]] between the [[Missouri River]] and [[Mississippi River]] basins on one side and the [[Hudson Bay]] basin on the other. However, it is often difficult to precisely determine the location of a watershed in a region of level plains, such as in central [[North America]]. The British and American committees that met after the [[War of 1812]] to resolve boundary disputes recognized there would be much animosity in surveying the watershed boundary, and agreed on a simpler border solution in the [[Treaty of 1818]]: the 49th parallel. Both sides gained and lost some territory by this convention, but the United States gained more than it lost, in particular securing title to the [[Red River Basin]]. This treaty established the boundary only between the line of longitude of the northwesternmost point of [[Lake of the Woods]], on the east, and the [[Rocky Mountains]], on the west. West of the Rockies, the treaty established joint occupation of the [[Oregon Country]] by both parties; east of Lake of the Woods, the boundary established in the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] would be retained.

Although the Convention of 1818 settled the boundary, neither country was immediately able to take control over the territories on its side of the line; effective control still rested with local First Nations peoples, mainly the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]], [[Assiniboine people|Assiniboine]], [[Lakota people|Lakota]], and [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]].  Their power was gradually ceded by conquest and treaty during the several decades that followed.  Among these peoples, the 49th parallel was nicknamed the '''Medicine Line''' because of its seemingly magical ability to prevent U.S. soldiers from crossing it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Brien |first1=Sharon |date=1984 |title=The medicine line: A border dividing tribal sovereignty, economies and families |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/flr53&i=331 |journal=Fordham Law Review |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=315–350 |access-date=9 July 2019}}</ref>

In the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 U.S. presidential election]], the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] asserted that the northern border of the [[Oregon Territory]] should be 54°40′, later reflected in the 1846 slogan "[[Oregon boundary dispute|Fifty-Four Forty or Fight]]!" However, the [[Oregon boundary dispute]] was settled diplomatically in the 1846 Oregon Treaty. This agreement divided the Oregon Country between [[British North America]] and the United States by extending the 49th parallel boundary to the west coast, ending in the [[Strait of Georgia]]; it then circumvents [[Vancouver Island]] through [[Boundary Pass]], [[Haro Strait]], and the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]]. This had the side effect of isolating [[Point Roberts, Washington]].

=== As border ===
[[File:Peacearch-boundarymarkers.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|A typical boundary marker, one of many along the 49th parallel. This one divides [[Blaine, Washington]] from [[Surrey, British Columbia]].]]
[[File:49th parallel US Canada border.svg|thumb|right|The 49th parallel north as a border between the [[Canadian province]]s of [[British Columbia]], [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Manitoba]] (to the north), and the [[U.S. state]]s of [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Idaho]], [[Montana]], [[North Dakota]] and [[Minnesota]] (to the south).]]

Although parts of Vancouver Island and parts of Eastern Canada are south of the 49th parallel, and parts of the United States ([[Alaska]], [[Northwest Angle]]) are north of it, the term ''49th parallel'' is sometimes used [[metonymic]]ally to refer to the entire Canada–U.S. border. Actually, many of Canada's most populated regions (and about 72% of the population) are south of the 49th parallel, including the two largest cities [[Toronto]] (43°42′ north) and [[Montreal]] (45°30′ north). The federal capital [[Ottawa]] (45°25′ north), and the provincial capital of seven provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia) are south of the 49th parallel. Three provinces, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, are each entirely south of the parallel, but the vast majority of Canadian territory lies north of it.

Parts of the 49th parallel were originally surveyed using astronomical techniques that did not take into account slight departures of the Earth's shape from a simple [[ellipsoid]], or the deflection of the [[plumb-bob]] by differences in terrestrial mass. The surveys were subject to the limitations of early to mid-19th century technology; consequently, in some places the surveyed border is several hundred feet from the geographical 49th parallel for the currently adopted [[datum (geodesy)|datum]], the [[North American Datum]] of 1983 (NAD 83). The [[Digital Chart of the World]] (DCW), which uses the Clarke 1866 ellipsoid, reports the border on average at latitude 48°&nbsp;59′&nbsp;51″&nbsp;north, roughly {{convert|270|m|0}} south of the modern 49th parallel. It ranges between 48°&nbsp;59′&nbsp;25″ and 49°&nbsp;0′&nbsp;10″&nbsp;north, {{convert|810|m|0}} and {{convert|590|m|0}} on either side of the average. In any case, the Earth's North Pole moves around slightly, notionally moving the 49th and other parallels with it; see [[polar motion]].

The [[Northwest Angle]] is the only part of the contiguous 48 states that goes north of the 49th parallel as surveyed. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] called for the boundary between the US and British territory to pass through the most northwesterly point of Lake of the Woods, and this was retained even after [[Treaty of 1818|an 1818 treaty]] set the boundary west of that point to follow the 49th parallel.

At the time that the United States and Great Britain agreed on the 49th parallel as the boundary, much of the North American continent had not yet been mapped. After the boundary was established, British surveyors discovered that [[Point Roberts, Washington|Point Roberts]] lay south of the 49th parallel. The British requested that the United States cede the territory to Great Britain, but no action was ever taken.

In 1909 the United States, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], and Canada signed and ratified a treaty confirming the original survey lines as the official and permanent international border. Nevertheless, in 2002 the difference of the survey from the geographical 49th parallel was argued in front of the [[Washington Supreme Court]] in the case of ''State of Washington v. Norman'',<ref>''State v. Norman'' [https://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-supreme-court/1329211.html 145 Wn.2d 578] (2002)</ref> under the premise that Washington did not properly incorporate the portions of land north of the geographical 49th parallel, as laid out by detailed [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] surveying. The court decided against the premise, ruling that the internationally surveyed boundary also served as the state boundary, regardless of its actual position.

== Ordnance Survey of Great Britain ==

The [[British national grid reference system]] uses the point 49° N, [[2nd meridian west|2° W]] as its true origin. {{coord|49.0000|-2.0000|display=inline|format=dms|type:country}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The true origin |url=http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/gps/information/coordinatesystemsinfo/guidetonationalgrid/page2.html |work=Welcome to OS Net |publisher=Ordnance Survey |location=Southampton |date=4 September 2007 |access-date=13 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429132713/http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/gps/information/coordinatesystemsinfo/guidetonationalgrid/page2.html |archive-date=29 April 2007 }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[48th parallel north]]
* ''[[49th Parallel (film)|49th Parallel]]'', 1941 Canadian and British film
* ''[[Hymns of the 49th Parallel]]'', 2004 album by [[k.d. lang]]
* [[50th parallel north]]
* [[Boundary Lake]] (Manitoba/North Dakota)
* [[Northwest Angle]] (northern Lake of the Woods County)
* [[Oregon boundary dispute]]
* [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]], 1859
* [[War of 1812]]
* ''[[Weißwurstäquator]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{geographical coordinates|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1846 establishments]]
[[Category:Borders of U.S. states]]
[[Category:Canada–United States border]]
[[Category:Historical geography of the United States]]
[[Category:Circles of latitude|n49]]
[[Category:Surveying of Canada]]
[[Category:Surveying of the United States]]