Green Island (in french: Île verte) is a rocky island near the mouth of
Fortune Bay,
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
. It is located about west of the
Burin Peninsula
The Burin Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Marystown is the largest population centre on the peninsula.Statistics Canada. 2017. Marystown, T ensus ...
of Newfoundland near
Point May
Point May is the most southerly community on the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador with a population of 254 in 2021. It is a Catholic community with a church, town hall, fire hall, softball and soccer field. It is known for its close p ...
, and east of
St. Pierre in the
French overseas collectivity
The French overseas collectivities (''collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonie ...
of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
Sovereignty
In Article XIII of the
Treaty of Utrecht (1713), France acknowledged British ownership of and sovereignty over Newfoundland and its adjacent islands, of which Green Island is one.
The Saint Pierre and Miquelon islands later on were ceded back to France by the 1763
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
and the British and French signatories of the 1783
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
made it clear that the mid channel line between Newfoundland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon was to be the boundary line.
Although the territorial location of the island remained legally unclear for a long time because it is nearer to Saint Pierre island than to Newfoundland but at the same time nearer to Newfoundland than to
Little Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
, it eventually was assumed to be part of Newfoundland after the British lighthouse had been built on it (1908). The 1972 agreement between Canada and France determining the line constituting the limit of the territorial waters of Canada and of the zones submitted to the fishery jurisdiction of France finally confirmed its location on the Canadian side of the boundary line.
["The Canadian-French boundary", Xavier Maillard P.M. (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, 2006)]
The maritime boundary is demarked by
Green Island Lighthouse
The first
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
was built on Green Island in 1908. It was replaced in 1955 with an aluminium
skeletal tower
Skeletal frame light towers are lighthouse towers that have only an open frame. They are commonly built as aids to navigation; most of them are not considered to be lighthouses. However, during the late nineteenth century and the first years of ...
, and this was replaced with the present structure in 1993. Its light flashes every 10 seconds and is visible for . The
foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...
sounds every 60 seconds as well.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Canada
This is a list of lighthouses in Canada. These may naturally be divided into lighthouses on the Pacific coast, on the Arctic Ocean, in the Hudson Bay watershed, on the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the St. Lawrence River watershed ( ...
*
List of lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
This is a list of lighthouses in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Lighthouses of Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador
Lighthouses
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type o ...
*
Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case
The ''Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case'' was a dispute between Canada and France that was decided in 1992 by an arbitral tribunal created by the parties to resolve the dispute. The decision established the extent of the Exclusive Economic Zo ...
References
Gallery
Image:Point a Henri Looking at Ile Vert and Newfoundland.JPG, Green Island(s) from Saint Pierre island (France). Iceberg and Newfoundland in background.
Image:Ile Vert Newfoundland in Background.JPG, Another shot of Green Island from the north of Saint Pierre island.
External links
Aids to Navigation''Canadian Coast Guard''
Lighthouse website, complete with pictureAnother lighthouse websitePicture of Green Island Lighthouse
Islands of Newfoundland and Labrador
Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada–Saint Pierre and Miquelon border
{{Newfoundland-geo-stub