Height of land

The term height of land is a phrase used in Canada and the United States to refer to the divide between two watersheds.^[1] Height of land is frequently used in border descriptions, which are set according to the "doctrine of natural boundaries".^[2][3] In glaciated areas it often refers to a low point on a divide where it is possible to portage a canoe from one river system to another.^[4]

The name is enshrined at the Height of Land Portage which joins the Great Lakes to the rivers of western Canada.^[5]

See also

• Drainage divide

References

1. Colombo, John Robert (16 December 2013). "Height of land". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
2. Haynes, Mark (2004). The Forgotten Battle: A History of the Acadians of Canso/Chedabuctou (second ed.). Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford Publishing. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-1-4120-3235-3.
3. Dikshit, Ramesh Dutta (1999). Political Geography: the Spatiality of Politics (3rd ed.). New Delhi: McGraw-Hill. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-07-463578-0.
4. Decker, Jody F. (2011). Wishart, David J., ed. "Portages". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.
5. Shelley, Fred M. (2013). Nation Shapes: The Story Behind the World's Borders. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 173, 242. ISBN 978-1-61069-105-5.

Further reading

• Decker, Jody F., and Freeman, Donald B. (1993). "The Role of Portages in Shaping the Economic Geography of the Western Canadian Fur Trade, 1774–1820". In Gibson, James R. Canada: Geographical Interpretations: Essays in Honour of John Warkentin. York University–Atkinson College Geographical Monograph 22. North York, Ontario: Geography Department, York University. pp. 31–67. ISBN 978-1-55014-134-4.