Strait of Juan de Fuca
Overview
 
The Strait of Juan de Fuca (called Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a large body of water about 95 miles (152.9 km) long that is the Salish Sea
Salish Sea
The name Salish Sea was coined only in the late 20th century, and was officially recognized by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010, to describe the coastal waterways surrounding southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound between Canada and the United States of America...

 outlet to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. The international boundary between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 runs down the center of the Strait.

It was named in 1787 by the maritime fur trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...

r Charles William Barkley
Charles William Barkley
Charles William Barkley was a ship captain and maritime fur trader. He was born in Hertford, England, son of Charles Barkley....

, captain of the Imperial Eagle
Imperial Eagle (ship)
The Imperial Eagle was a 400 ton burthen British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was under the command of Captain Charles William Barkley until confiscated in India. The ship, Loudoun, was a decommissioned East Indiaman...

, for Juan de Fuca
Juan de Fuca
Ioánnis Fokás , better known by the Spanish transcription of his name, Juan de Fuca , was a Greek-born maritime pilot in the service of the king of Spain, Philip II...

, the Greek navigator who sailed in a Spanish expedition in 1592 to seek the fabled Strait of Anián.
 
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