Green Island (in ) is a rocky island near the mouth of
Fortune Bay
Fortune Bay () is a fairly large natural bay located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada.Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. 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 (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Marystown is the largest population centre on the peninsula.Statistics Canada. 201 ...
of Newfoundland near
Point May, and east of
Saint Pierre Island in the French
overseas collectivity
The French overseas collectivities ( abbreviated as 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 colonies and other French ...
of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...
.
Sovereignty
In Article XIII of the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
(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 and the British and French signatories of the 1783
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
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, it eventually was assumed to be part of Newfoundland after the British lighthouse had been built on it (1908). The March 27, 1972, agreement between Canada and France on their mutual fishing relations determined the demarcation of the limit of their territorial waters. This agreement confirmed Green Island’s location on the Canadian side of the boundary line. The boundary touches two Canadian islands at their low water marks (which are defined as the minimum low tide mark).
A U.S. State Department document
lists nine turning points on the boundary. Points (4) and (5) touch islands:
Point 4 and 5 are separated by a distance of 0.35 nautical miles. Google Maps' aerial view displays th
straight line boundarywith endpoints at the stated coordinates for Points 4 and 5, with this boundary line crossing one of the islands comprising the Little Green Islands. This line from Point 4 to Point 5 runs in a northwesterly direction.
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 lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
was built on Green Island in 1908. It was replaced in 1955 with an aluminium
skeletal tower, 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. ...
sounds every 60 seconds as well.
See also
*
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 Arbitration#Arbitration with sovereign governments, arbitral tribunal created by the parties to resolve the dispute. The decision ...
*
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
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
{{Authority control, additional=Q29644690
Islands of Newfoundland and Labrador
Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada–Saint Pierre and Miquelon border