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Northwest Angle, Northwest Territories, Northwest Territory and The Pacific Northwest

Northwest Angle

The Northwest Angle is an area on the western edge of Lake of the Woods which is part of the American state of Minnesota but is not connected to it. It does however have a land border with the Canadian Province of Manitoba. This geographical curiosity arose through a misconception at the time when the border was decided that the Mississippi River ran to the west of the Lake of the Woods.

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories form a huge area of sub-arctic and arctic Canada.

A large section of the Northwest Territories became the separate territory of Nunavut on 1-Apr-99.

Northwest Territory

Northwest Territory was a historical name for an area ceded by Great Britain to the United States in 1783, covering present-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.

Leslie Smith sent me this comment:

I just have to correct you on how the Northwest Territory got its name. It is a lot older than what you say. It got its name from the first cast survey of North America in 1510 and England didn't have much say in it at the time. The first was off a benchmark of 1510 and the second, the present day, was off the same benchmark as the cast survey moved to the northwest in 1522.

Northwest Trading Post, North Carolina

The Northwest Trading Post at mile marker 258 on the Blue Ridge Parkway promotes the handicrafts of the northwestern counties of North Carolina. Photograph (36KB).

The Pacific Northwest

See separate article.

Northern Territory

None of the above should be confused with Australia's Northern Territory, which like Canada's Northwest Territories is also often abbreviated as NT.
Amusing, Interesting And Mysterious Place Names

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Most recently modified 12-Mar-04