Why Nobody Lives In Alaska

this is Alaska and this is the United Kingdom Germany Japan and France all major world powers with gross domestic products in the trillions and at least 65 million residents each here's the thing though the state of Alaska isn't just larger than each of these powerful Nations individually no it's about 12 and a half percent larger than all four of them combined in fact Alaska is only smaller than 15 of the world's 193 U.N recognized countries so you may be thinking that Alaska should have a population similar to Nations like the United Kingdom not just its fellow U.S states when that couldn't be further from the truth because while Alaska is more than six times the size of the United Kingdom for instance its population of 736 000 residents is about 98 percent smaller and even the relatively modest state of Pennsylvania has a population that outnumbers Alaska's by about 20 fold meaning that Alaska has a population more in line with moderately popular U.S cities than Nash or Powerhouse states with just the city core of San Antonio having a population that about doubles the entire massively sized state of Alaska to understand why that is and how Alaska has so few residents especially for a state of its considerable size we should rewind back through Alaskan history so that we can properly evaluate this predicament it finds itself in today the history of modern Alaska started when the United States purchased it from Russia for 7.2 million dollars in 1867. now Alaska hadn't yet become a state back then no it was known as the territory of Alaska all the way up until January 3rd 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii surprisingly enough became the 49th and 50th U.S states respectively of course A lot happened in that 92 years between Alaska's purchase and its statehood though gold was discovered in 1880 Juno was incorporated in 1900 Fairbanks was incorporated in 1903 Anchorage was founded in 1915. Denali National Park was created just two years later in 1917. the Alaskan Railroad was completed in 1923 and the Alaska highway system was built in 1942 and while that isn't an exhaustive list of Alaska's modern history it does provide a strong overview of the state's initial settlement and Rising importance and well as they say The Show Must Go On because frankly I would argue that what's happened in Alaska since its statehood is even more important that's because oil was first discovered in Alaska just two years before it became a U.S state permanently altering Alaska's role in American society see while oil was first discovered only at Swanson River further oil deposits were quickly found across the state of Alaska solidifying the state as a hot spot for one of the most important natural resources in modern times of course like Hawaii Alaska isn't part of the contiguous United States no in a perfect world it's about 500 miles from the state of Washington but travel between the lower 48 and Alaska requires passions through Canadian provinces making that trip from Washington more along the lines of a couple thousand miles in reality that incredible distance to the lower 48 necessitated the trans-alaskan pipeline completed in 1977 but only after a remarkable level of setbacks pushback and payoffs seriously I could make an entire video on Alaska's history as the American epicenter for valuable resources but the point here is that the discovery of significant oil reserves in Alaska largely coincided with the rising popularity of internal combustion engines with the discovery of oil there happening at a time where lawmakers in Washington DC were already pushing for Alaska to officially join the union but this video is about why nobody lives in the state of Alaska not the state's establishment so I think we've already spent enough time looking at Alaska's initial settlement by the year of 1970 Alaska's population had grown from 226 000 residents a decade before to 300 000 residents with most of those residents living in Alaskan Urban cores where the oil and construction economy were thriving that represents a healthy population growth rate of about 32 percent from 1960 to 1970. however even if Alaska had continued growing at such a rapid rate from 1970 to today the state would still only have a population of about 1.1 million residents that would be a substantial increase of about 34 percent compared to the state's actual current population of 732 thousand residents but even then Alaska would still be one of the least populated U.S states despite its ginormous size of course that growth rate didn't hold up though as the state of Alaska is significantly short of even a million residents today I believe there are several reasons for that for Alaska's small population and very low population density I'm sure you already know that much of it comes down to Alaska's geography and climate because while Alaska's geography and climate differ from region to region like any place else on the whole the state of Alaska is brutally cold and mountainous with harsh topography that's often Frozen and difficult to Traverse with an average Statewide temperature range of zero degrees to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit from November to March and Alaska is home to 17 of the 20 tallest mountain peaks in the United States along with more than 3 million lakes and a whopping 3 000 Rivers not to mention the significant seismic activity there something that has made it difficult to build out the state for more than a century now with Alaska having more earthquakes than any other region of the United States it isn't just the natural disadvantages that go along with being one of the northernmost major settlements in the world deeply separated from the rest of the United States that has limited Alaska's population so severely though but before I dive further into why nobody lives in Alaska I think it's important to look at why 736 000 people do first I would say Alaska offers its residents and businesses some real Financial incentives it's one of only eight U.S states without an individual income tax and the Alaska Permanent Fund literally pays residents just for living there through a small portion of the state's excess annual oil revenues as Alaska runs at a surplus a rarity in today's world and something that provides for less economic concern as residents of several other states are stuck worrying about what their representatives will do to cover Rising expenses while alaskans are able to collect part of their State's excess investment income every year Alaska also has a comfortable median household income of about eighty thousand dollars and a modest median home price of 338 thousand dollars that's because the Alaskan economy does well for itself with tourism oil and gas construction and real estate in fact Alaska has a total GDP of nearly 50 billion dollars and the nation's sixth highest per capita GDP of nearly seventy thousand dollars then again while the numbers in Alaska make a lot of sense I would argue that it's the state's uniquely beautiful nature open spaces and focus on personal freedom that attracts more people than anything else though I'm sure some folks really just enjoy the Arctic winter because while Alaska has more coastline than all of the lower 48 states combined much of it is frozen so swimming and sunbathing aren't really the vibe there now Alaska's culture is more rugged and while culture there is generally more Regional I will say that individualism nature and Recreation are the central themes if you would like to see more of a regional breakdown of Alaska where I spend more time talking about livability and opportunity in the state's principal cities like Anchorage Fairbanks and Juno please let me know in the comments section below while this is the longest video I've ever made here at something different films I feel like I'm only scratching the surface of America's most unique state but there are other reasons that Alaska has lost residents from its peak in 2016 that the state has only grown by 2.6 percent since 2010 and that it's remained one of the least populated places in the U.S since its founding and we already talked about the harsh and lengthy Winters there the difficult topography that makes daily life so complicated and the remoteness of Alaska in general all of which are important factors to Alaska's limited population for sure I would argue that it's also Alaska's very late start as it was the last U.S state to join the union just 63 years ago it's the fact that much of Alaska's vast land mass is owned by the government corporate interests or is unusable due to Geographic complications while affordable housing and good income there can't keep Pace with the ever rising cost of goods due to the complicated nature of shipping and warehousing outside of the traditional grid Alaska is dark and icy it lacks City amenities and the wildlife there isn't always let's just say a feature

Channel: Something Different Films

Views: 1,692,135

Keywords: Something Different Films, Something Different, Why nobody lives in Alaska, How Alaska is changing, Alaska's economy geography history, What is the future of Alaska, Why Alaska is so big, Why so few people live in Alaska, Are Alaskans happy, Why Alaska is Something Different, Understanding Alaska's statistics, The Ultimate Guide to the state of Alaska

Id: zJ0WMaYHIoU

Length: 8min 44sec (524 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 21 2023