JULY 27 IS THE US / CANADA BORDER PATROLLED?

JULY 27  IS THE US / CANADA BORDER PATROLLED?

Throughout his campaign and presidency, Donald Trump has made the security of the US / Mexico border a top priority. Endless tweets warn of armies of rapists sneaking across. To counter, the president is constructing a massive wall...as you already know. Yet with all this focus on the nation's southern border, we thought it would be helpful to give an update on the other international border in America: The northern one with Canada.

Officially called the International Boundary by the US government, it's three times longer than the testy Mexican border. In fact, it's the longest such boundary between two nations in the world. Also, unlike the Mexican one, this border is undefended. You'll see border patrols at the official crossing points, but the vast majority is under little jurisdiction: Only the joint US / Canada International Boundary Commission is allowed here.

So what does the border look like? Let's start with the long, straight 1,500 mile stretch. It runs exactly along the 49th parallel (latitude). Most of the border runs through forests, so a 20-foot wide area has been felled to indicate its location. It's called the "No Touch" area and it's illegal for anyone (other than the Commission) to be there. In the prairie areas of the Dakotas, it's indicated by sign posts every 100 yards. The next 800 miles of border are over water. Four of the five Great Lakes (and Niagara Falls) are bisected by the US / Canada border.

Things get dicey after the St. Lawrence River. Here, the border wiggles and waggles between New York, Vermont and Quebec. This is the oldest section of the border. It was drawn up 250 years ago at the Peace of Paris. Hence, a few places ended up with the line going right down the middle of town. For example, between Derby Line (US) and Stanstead (Canada), the international boundary is a row of flower pots. The library next door has a Canadian entrance on one side of the building and an American on the other!

Finally, there is the nearly 2,000 mile stretch that separates Alaska from the Yukon. Since the area is very sparsely populated, there is no physical indication of the border on land. However, the roads are curvy and sometimes straddle between the two nations. This impacts the town of Hyder, Alaska. It's only accessible by driving through Canada first. There are no passport checks, since you can only go to one place!

JULY 17 CROATIA CELEBRATES WORLD CUP LOSS

JULY 17 CROATIA CELEBRATES WORLD CUP LOSS

Despite losing the World Cup Championship game to France, the people of Croatia are ecstatic. Around half a million people jammed into Ban Jelenic Square in the capital of Zagreb. Since the country only has four million people, this means an eighth of Croatians were there to celebrate the loss! See...up until the famed soccer tourney, no one in the world cared about the nation. Or, as Duner Blog staff member stated: "Before today, I had never even heard of Croatia." Let's answer the top five queries posed during the match:

How long has Croatian football been around?  The current nation of Croatia began in 1991. It was one of five new states to emerge from the breakup of Yugoslavia. After independence, one of the first acts of the new government was to establish a national football club. They're good: This is the fifth time Croatia has played in a World Cup in six attempts. They finished third in 1998.

Does Croatia have a king? Not anymore, but for a span of 600 years, Croatia was a thriving monarchy. It began in the year 925, when King Tomislav proclaimed himself King of Croatia. The catholic nation united Croat-speaking peoples into a common entity. Things changed in 1527, when massive Ottoman armies came. That's when Croatia decided to place Austrian King Ferdinand on the throne. It was a necessary move, but with dire consequences. For the next 500 years, Croatia would be a province in someone else's empire.

Who is the woman in the red dress? That's Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Croatia's president. It's a solid move for a leader of a nation competing in the World Cup to cheer your country on from the stands. It's even better if you're photogenic like Kolinda. She can even make Croatia's silly red and white checker-board emblem look good! She got the current 'celebrate a loss' movement going. After the game, she went onto the field to hug each player on the National team in the rain. DEETS: She's 50 and married with two kids.

What does Hrvastska mean? It's simply the word for "Croatia" in the Croatian language. Although everyone else in the world calls them Croatia, they have a special name for themselves. Two other European nations do this as well. People from Hungary are Magyars, and folks in Finland call themselves the Suomi. It only appears in a couple places...their Internet domain is .hr. and their soccer jerseys have a large HR on them as well. Just don't ask us how to pronounce Hrvastska...only a native speaking Croat is qualified to do that.

What's the coolest place to visit in Croatia? Being a remote province in Austro-Hungarian Empire has one advantage. It means Croatia was forgotten in most major European Wars. The historic cores of their cities haven't been constantly shelled and rebuilt. Dubrovnik is a great example, but I've always wanted to visit the medieval walled island city of Sveti Stefan. Looks cool, huh?