This is Oregon, this is Washington, this is British Columbia, and this is Sierra Leone,
but we don’t really care much about that last one right now, because the first three
make up a region known as the Pacific Northwest, or, more relevant to this video, Cascadia.
So, what exactly is Cascadia, and what would it look like as a country?
Full disclosure, this video is actually being brought to you from Cascadia.
Now, while Cascadia does have a bit of an independence movement, it’s really more
of a joke than a serious thing.
However, it does reflect both the area’s more liberal values, and the fact that Oregon
and Washington, and British Columbia are more similar to each-other than, say, New York
and Ontario, but that’s just because the US and Canada are huge countries.
So basically, we’re going to be discussing this area, and where it would stand in the
world, if it were its own country.
Cascadia, though it could also include parts of Idaho, northern California, Alaska, Montana,
Wyoming and the Yukon Territory, is generally limited to just Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia, which should hopefully make estimations a bit easier.
Some more conservative advocates even put the division closer to the coasts, as the
eastern parts of Oregon and Washington are basically North Nevada.
First off, the area of Cascadia has a population of around 16 million, and an area of around
1.38 million square kilometers, making it comparable in population to Cambodia, and
slightly larger than Peru.
The largest cities in the area would be Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver,
British Columbia (coincidentally the largest cities in each state/province).
Out of the ten biggest cities, four of them would be in Washington, four in British Columbia,
and only two would be in Oregon.
However, the capitals of each state/province are actually Victoria, BC; Olympia, WA; and
Salem, OR.
No capital has ever really been specified for Cascadia, with many speculating it would
be one of the three larger cities.
If I were to randomly pick a capital city, I would personally pick Olympia, as it’s
already the capital of Washington, which is the largest of the three subdivisions and
sits right between the other two, making it somewhat more geographically advantageous.
Cascadia’s GDP would be around $825 billion, roughly comparable to the Netherlands, and
with a nominal per capita GDP of $40,217, comparable to Israel.
Cascadia’s Human Development Index is a very high 0.914, putting us between Liechtenstein
and Japan in 18th place.
Cascadia is home to many world-renowned brands, including Microsoft, Amazon, Nike, Telus,
Starbucks, Boeing, and several others.
Of course, we’re kind of known for our small businesses, so most of these are based in
Seattle anyway.
The PNW is also famously liberal and left-wing leaning, with Oregon and Washington having
voted for the Democratic Party in every general election since 1988.
Of course, the states both have sizeable Republican-voting minorities in the east, but most of the overall
population lives closer to the coast, making for a kind of reverse-China.
British Columbia is also famously liberal and eco-friendly, though elections work a
bit different in Canada than in the US, making streak-measuring a bit more difficult.
Either way, it’s certainly no doubt that an independent Cascadia would probably become
the next Sweden pretty quickly.
In actual history, Cascadia was actually administered briefly as the Oregon Country, effectively
a dispute between the British and the Americans, which was briefly jointly governed by both
sides.
The Americans had an extreme claim of up to the 54th parallel, and the British down to
the 42nd parallel, with a border with Mexico.
The border was eventually set at the much more sensible 49th parallel, and giving Vancouver
Island to Canada (but still completely missing Point Roberts).
The cities in the area are of course hugely economically interdependent on each-other,
with the Seattle, Portland and Vancouver metro areas being theorized to soon become a megalopolis,
comprising 17% of the Cascadian landmass, but 80% of its population.
The area from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, OR is already well connected, and for citizens
of either country, the border is actually pretty easy to cross.
Neither Canadians nor Americans have ever needed a visa to cross the common border,
and Canada and the US are famously friendly to each-other.
Obviously, this would probably never happen, especially given that it would effectively
be the result of two independence movements and one unification movement.
Also, US states cannot legally leave the US (the Civil War already got us to decide on
that issue) and if British Columbia were to leave, Canada would effectively lose all of
its access to the Pacific Ocean, so that’s probably not happening.
Regardless, what do you think an independent Cascadia could look like down the road?
Would we be better off in our respective countries, or independent from the influences of Washington
and Ottawa?
Be sure to like, subscribe and start a flame war in the comments, and I will see you next
Sunday (well, actually Saturday, but still).