Rupert's Land, or
Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in
British North America, consisting of the
Hudson Bay drainage basin, which was nominally owned by the
Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the sovereignty of the area. The area once known as Rupert's Land is now mainly a part of
Canada, but a small portion is now in the
United States of America. It was named after
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of
Charles I and the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. In December 1821 the HBC monopoly was extended from Rupert's Land to the Pacific coast.