What Kind of population could Alaska support ?

Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

For my TL I need help to figure out what kind of population Alaska could support if it was it`s own country .
Specifically I want to know how much food Alaska could grow , how long the growing season is .And what kind of food can grow in Alaska .
Also I want to know just what the weather is like in Alaska ,and where the weather patterns are different .
What kinds of fish can be found in Alaska ?Salmon ,Cod and Sturgeon are the obvious ones but what else grows in the water .If you know how they are caught and what zones of oceans/rivers that would be great to share as well .
But I wont stop bugging you there .Oh no that would be far to easy .I want to know what natural resources Alaska has besides Oil ,Timber ,Gold and zinc .Does it have alot of iron and copper ?Silver perhaps ,or lead ?
If you know or could put a link to someplace that does know these things please post it .Thanks alot .
 

Ciryatur

Count of Crisco said:
It would seem that out of all the "Experts" on this site that none of them knows jack about Alaska .:(
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Patience and Google would go a long way to helping you out. I would also post in the Help and Feedback Forum. Through a quick googling, it seems barley does fairly well, but whether or not that's useful depends on what timeframe you're looking for. What do you have in mind?
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

I was thinking about making my book and TL start in 1800 and slowly work to end it about 2050 .So I will need alot of information about the crops .Thanks for barley .
And I have repeatedly tried to find what grows in Alaska but can`t seem to be able to .Same with hat resources it possesses .
 

Mr.brightside

What grows in Alaska isn't all that important. Your not going to be able to support a large population with domestic food production. Importing food will lead to a higher population. The region should on focus on energy, lumber, fishing, mining, and manufacturing. The first and last are key. I'm sure you know about the fossil fuels but Alaska also has vast untapped hydroelectric and wind potential. Look towards Iceland and get into aluminum production.
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

Alright granted it could not support a large population by domestic food production .But what I would still like to know what grows there as they will need to grow food early on ,before transporting food long distances was a possibility .
.Plus they might be able to support themselves by exploiting the Bering sea fishing grounds .
And I never meant them to have agricultural economy I wanted them to be heavily industrailised .Using their mineral wealth to make things for other nations .In addition I want them to get Vancouver in the TL so they might be able to use the island to grow things .
 

Ciryatur

Count of Crisco said:
Alright granted it could not support a large population by domestic food production .But what I would still like to know what grows there as they will need to grow food early on ,before transporting food long distances was a possibility .
.Plus they might be able to support themselves by exploiting the Bering sea fishing grounds .
And I never meant them to have agricultural economy I wanted them to be heavily industrailised .Using their mineral wealth to make things for other nations .In addition I want them to get Vancouver in the TL so they might be able to use the island to grow things .
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Heavily industrialized? When are we talking?
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

I`m thinking around the 1880`s is when it really gets going .But before then it might have gotten a slight start in the 1860`s .I was thinking that by around 1930-40 they would have about the same population and industrial base as Italy .As well as an awesome navy to defend against Japan and/or the United States .
 

Shinsu

Count of Crisco said:
I was thinking that by around 1930-40 they would have about the same population and industrial base as Italy
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Whoa, wait a minute, what all land is this Alaska going to have? Italy's population was hovering around 43 million people during the 1930's.
How are you going to go about getting that funding under way for building up the industrial base as well? Italy had a GDP that was a little more then half of the British Isles in 1938 (151 to 283)
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

Shinsu said:
Whoa, wait a minute, what all land is this Alaska going to have? Italy's population was hovering around 43 million people during the 1930's.
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I was thinking that Italy had around twenty to thirty million !And as for the money to bankroll all the heavy industry ,Alaska has large Gold and oil deposits that could if under government control/taxation provide a source of income to boost their industrial capacity .
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Mr.brightside

Count of Crisco said:
I was thinking that Italy had around twenty to thirty million !And as for the money to bankroll all the heavy industry ,Alaska has large Gold and oil deposits that could if under government control/taxation provide a source of income to boost their industrial capacity .
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The technology and climate needed such rapid growth won't be around till the 1970s. Even that your asking for more than 20 times the current population in the 1940s. A successful independent Alaska is possible but I think your wanking too hard haha.
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Zek Sora

Zek Sora

From the extremely brief, ended-before-it-started independent Alaska TL that I wrote, I would say that probably the highest population that is realistic with a POD in the early 1800s without the TL being a massive wankfest is between 5 and 6 million people.

And that was with all of the ethnic exiles and stuff I pulled :D
 

Shinsu

Also, under what possible situation could they get Vancouver island? Don't tell me that they are going to cheat hack a victory over England.
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

Read the time line and see for yourself .
If you are interested it is titled "Charles Markov`s history of Alaska "I think it is awesome but really have no opinion since I wrote it and am therefore biased in the extreme .:)
 

Mr.brightside

Zek Sora said:
From the extremely brief, ended-before-it-started independent Alaska TL that I wrote, I would say that probably the highest population that is realistic with a POD in the early 1800s without the TL being a massive wankfest is between 5 and 6 million people.

And that was with all of the ethnic exiles and stuff I pulled :D
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That seems about right. I don't think Alaska could reach 10 million by 2100.
 
Merried Seinor Comic

Merried Seinor Comic

Mr.brightside said:
Count of Crisco said:
The technology and climate needed such rapid growth won't be around till the 1970s. Even that your asking for more than 20 times the current population in the 1940s. A successful independent Alaska is possible but I think your wanking too hard haha.
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You gotta be careful with the wanking, you might get chafed. ;)

Seriously, Alaska's potential is only now being realized. But, here's the tricky part: Convincing millions of people to live in a place that's frozen most of the year.
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Germania09

Germania09

My money is always on Mormons for some reason just grant then some sort of autonomous region in the interior on the condition that they develop it. That or any other plethora of outcasts generated from the conflicts that dominated the continent. Indians, Confederates whatever's needed to populate everyone's favorite ice box.
 
Count of Crisco

Count of Crisco

In the TL I have the British East India company sending ships every year to buy Alaskan whale oil ,furs and other goods .These ships are fully loaded on the homeward trip but besides from a few luxury items they are mostly empty .So Alaska`s first king decides to boost population and begins offering land to potential settlers .Many Swedes ,Norwegians ,Russians ,Poles and Dutch answer .The Indiamen can carry about 75 men and women on a trip to Alaska as passengers .So if you have perhaps twenty ships a year coming once a year ,that Amounts to around 1500 a year .For twenty five years that`s 3700 !In addition Alaska has a whaling fleet and when the crews of these ships retire from the business they often have wives whom they got from the islands .And children before long .
In addition there were around 150,000 natives already living in Alaska by 1800 .So if families were large ,as they were in those days .You could see that by around 1900 Alaska might have a population of around fifteen million .
But those would not be the only ways to get to Alaska .If gold were discovered early many Americans might choose to come to the country ,and then be to poor to afford to go home .Also if Alaska could get the British in on making a transcontinental railroad in the 1860`s perhaps .You would only have to sail across the Atlantic .
Plus yeah all the groups of people that were downtrodden on the continent like ex-Confederates ,Indian especially .Add that to all the oppressed groups in Europe like the poles ,Slavs and others that might want to get as far away from where they came from .
And who would invade a frozen wasteland ?Except Hitler ,Napoleon ?
 
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