California vs the north
March 23, 2014
The five most northerly jurisdictions are vastly larger in size than California. Yet the population of America’s most populous state greatly exceeds all northern jurisdictions. California’s highway system is shrinking in size, but greatly exceeds all jurisdictions.
- Alaska is 4 times the size of California, but has only 1/52nd its population. Alaska has 10,400 kms of roadways (1/3 are paved) compared to 268,800 km in CA. California’s per capita income is larger than Alaska’s $61K vs $40K. You cannot drive to the state capitol Juneau—it can only be reached by plane or ferry.
- Yukon is slightly larger in area than California, yet has only 1/1000th of its population. It has about 3,500 kms of public roads. Yukon’s per capita income is higher $75K vs $61K.
- NWT is 3 times larger than California. Yet the Golden State has 934 times more people. NWT has about 3,000 kms of public roads. NWT is famous for its system of winter ice roads (“Ice Road Truckers”). NWT’s per capita income is $108K vs $61 K in California.
- Nunavut only has 31,000 residents, and is 1/1235 times less populous than CA. Nunavut is 5 times larger than California. There are no highways in Nunavut. Nunavut’s per capita income is $58K, similar to CA.
- Greenland is 5 times larger than CA and has 1/683 times the population. Of course Greenland is an island with no roads between settlements, for the most part. Greenland’s per capita GDP is a bit lower than California’s at $56K.
Commentary
The vast area of the north is often overlooked. The road systems in the north are nothing like the freeways in densely populated California. The north’s per capita income is higher in some places.
Sources
- a)Wikipedia
- http://dot.alaska.gov/FAQ.shtml#i