Alaska should become an independent nation.

Alaska, it seems, has long been the brunt of jokes by Americans all over the Lower 48. "What do you guys do for fun? Ride polar bears? " "Don't you guys, like, hibernate all winter? " "Do you live in an igloo or something? " These are the same people that called Alaska "Walrussia" and "Seward's Folly" when the land was first purchased from Russia in 1867. Even today, to many, it seems that the Last Frontier hardly even exists as a part of the United States. So culturally different and so isolated from the rest of the country, it only makes sense that Alaska become an independent nation. Alaska is simply too large to be relegated to statehood. Alaska contains 586,000 square miles of land within its borders, and that alone makes it nearly 1/5 the size of the continental United States. [1] A 2012 population estimate put Alaska's population at 731,449, a number which initially looks paltry, but is larger than that of Iceland and the Maldives. [2] While Alaska is stereotypically thought of as a vast wasteland of ice, it does have it's fair share of large cities. The population of Anchorage is over 300,000, the Fairbanks North Star Borough is at nearly 100,000, and the quaint Juneau is home to nearly 35,000 residents. While Alaska is no urban, metropolitan giant, it is not without population or large cities. Almost 3,000 miles lies between the Land of the Midnight Sun and the continental United States. This is a distance far too great--it leaves Alaskans feeling entirely disconnected from the rest of the country, and vice versa. In turn, Alaskan culture is vastly different from that of the rest of America--almost like it is already its own country. This furthers Alaskan need for independence. Alaska has bountiful natural resources to thrive as an independent nation, and in turn, many of these fuel the economy. The economy is driven by oil, tourism, fishing, timber, mining, and agriculture. [3] Oil, however, is most important to the economy of Alaska. Other countries would have a demand for Alaskan oil in the same way that the United States does now. Alaska collected nearly $100 billion in oil revenues from 1975-2005. [4]Far more pertinent, Alaska's statehood is not legal. Alaskan statehood violates the U. N. charter the the U. S. signed, stating that signatory's territories must be allowed self-determination and a vote for independence. [5] Territorial Alaskans were never given the option of independence when statehood was voted on. [5] For a moment, allow the comparison of a theoretical Alaskan nation and the current nation of Monaco. Monaco's size (0.7 square miles) is much, much smaller than even the Alaskan city of Juneau--and the populations are comparable. Monaco's primary industry is tourism, much like Alaska, which has far more industry than that (again, oil). If a nation so tiny and so dependent on one single industry is allowed independence, why not Alaska? Inside of Alaska are already the makings of an independent nation. Alaska contains several colleges and universities, a stable economy, a small but determined population, enough room to grow, a substantial military despite its population, and natural beauty that goes unrivaled. Unfortunately, Alaska is treated as a mere colony to the rest of America, its resources and land exploited to aid factories in the Lower 48. It benefits Alaska most to become an independent nation. Sources [1] . http://alaska.gov... [2] . http://www.nationsonline.org... [3] . http://alaska.gov... [4] . http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu... [5] . http://juneauempire.com...