What if Cascadia Became Independent?

the pacific northwest of the united states as well as the west coast of canada are geographically some of the most unique parts of their respective countries a cold mountainous rainforest filled with fjords and islands the area west of the cascades is often referred to as cascadia it is home to an independence movement seeking to form a new country independent from both the united states and canada hello and welcome to that is interesting i'm your host carter today what if cascadia became an independent country support for regional independence dates back hundreds of years with early american presidents like thomas jefferson and john quincy adams predicting that american settlers to the pacific northwest would found their own country to rival the united states centered around fort astoria where the columbia river meets the pacific ocean in what is now oregon at the time the united states was not yet attempting to expand to the west coast and many people did not believe they should thinking a new country centered on the pacific coast believing the same ideals as the us would be the region's future instead in fact oregon washington idaho and british columbia were one enormous disputed territory called oregon country until 1846 when both british and american citizens allowed to reside in the area forging a common identity before it was split in two geographically it is easy to understand why desire for independence has persisted among some residents of the region the area from eugene oregon to vancouver canada is a heavily populated mega region home to millions of people but they are incredibly cut off from the rest of their respective countries the cascade mountains make it difficult to access with only a few highways coming through and the area around it is sparsely populated for hundreds of miles in all directions not just mountainous but cold surrounding the center of population with perhaps one of the emptiest places in the united states although there are certainly emptier places in canada politically residents of the region tend to be very liberal and surrounded by spectacular wildlife and natural areas share strong support for sustainability and environmental protection likely a strong driver for the movement is dissatisfaction among residents with their government's response to climate change a flag known as the doug flag is a common symbol of regional pride has been adopted by those supporting independence and unification as the proposed country's new flag no one really knows how many cascadians desire independence but what is clear is that many have a strong regional identity and culture that stretches across national boundaries and support if not independence things like easier border crossings between the us and canada regional infrastructure between cascadia's major cities and a unified policy around the environment while it is incredibly unlikely that cascadia will ever become an independent country if it did happen what would its government look like what states and provinces would include what would its largest cities be and its capital first off there are two proposed boundaries for cascadia where it's become independent the first consists simply of british columbia washington and oregon using their existing borders the second proposal would have the new country's borders consist of the actual crest of the cascades and the area in between this would change things up quite a bit stretching as far south as northern california including the city of santa rosa not far from san francisco a section of southeastern oregon would be included as with large parts of northern british columbia most of idaho would be part of the new country as would a tiny part of both nevada and utah yellowstone national park in wyoming would be included in it as with a large chunk of western montana a small part of yukon would be included in cascadia as with the alaska panhandle extending not far from anchorage while this scenario is much less likely as it would require the division of numerous states provinces and territories i'll use it for this video as i think it is much more interesting it would be home to 19.926 million people making it the 59th most populous country on earth just under sri lanka and just above burkina faso in terms of area it would take up approximately 534 000 square miles or 1.385 million square kilometers a gdp of 675 billion dollars it would have the 21st largest economy on earth just after switzerland and above taiwan seattle is a center for business and major companies like boeing amazon and microsoft would be located within cascadia making it a powerful player in the global economy the new country's government would probably be similar to that of the us and canada existing of numerous states or provinces in a central federal government i imagine that washington and oregon would remain their own states northern california could probably be its own state as well although it could also be absorbed in the oregon maybe the state of jefferson a proposed state consisting of northern california and southern oregon could come into existence within cascadia idaho could absorb the small chunks of utah nevada montana and wyoming and the alaska panhandle could join british columbia along with a small chunk of yukon become its own state or maybe take part of northern british columbia as well politically this new country would definitely be very liberal and especially devoted to environmental protection clean energy and combating climate change although rural areas would likely lean conservative its largest cities would be seattle vancouver and portland although it would include smaller cities as well like spokane boise victoria santa rosa eugene salem kenwick bremerton olympia medford kelowna nampa yakima abbotsford and bellingham there are several options when it comes to a capital city it could be interesting historically to make the country like thomas jefferson predicted centered around fort astoria by locating the capital in the same place as the fort the oregon city of astoria another benefit of this location would be that astoria sits on the mouth of the columbia river a massive drainage for the region much of which falls on the river's watershed as well as an important port city with access to the pacific ocean important considering this region revolves around the pacific making a story of the capital could be a good decision for building trade relationships with foreign countries however astoria is not in a central location within cascadia it is far to the south a part of the region that already holds most of cascadia's population this would likely make residents of the northern part of the country feel left out and ignored by their government astoria also lacks existing government infrastructure it would make more sense to hold a capital city in one of the five locations within cascadia that already serves as a state or provincial capital juno the capital of alaska victoria the capital of british columbia boise the capital of idaho olympia the capital of washington or salem the capital of oregon out of these i think the best option would be victoria it is the most centrally located of all the potential capitals and is coastal which is a plus besides the fact that it is not far from vancouver or seattle but honestly choosing any one of these cities would be an interesting option as well as picking a place that isn't an existing capital or constructing a new capital city altogether of course there is little to no possibility that cascadia would ever become a country while secession is legal in canada and there's a process for provinces to do so it is not in the united states besides that there is very little support for the creation of an independent cascadia the most likely future for this unique area would be one of strong regional identity in close collaboration between the governments of washington oregon and british columbia to strengthen the bonds between cascadia's residents thank you for watching this video and i hope you learned something new subscribe for more content like this i cover the countries cities people and places of the world and beyond these videos will leave you saying that is interesting [Music] you

Channel: That Is Interesting

Views: 56,977

Keywords: cascadia, independent, potential new countries us, pacific northwest independence, british columbia independence, us canada unification, washington, oregon, idaho, bc

Id: dTBbqqo63sc

Length: 8min 18sec (498 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 21 2020